Extreme weather events and a changing climate are reshaping long-term housing affordability across America. The result is a migration pattern that would have shocked demographers a decade ago: people are leaving the Sun Belt and heading to the Rust Belt.
As the climate crisis exposes broader swaths of the U.S. to severe weather, responsible future-proofing strategies must account not only for fortified development but also for comprehensive cleanup. Real resilience can't exist without effective remediation first.
Over the last 15 years, Rhode Island has seen cataclysmic inland flooding, tornadoes, and rapidly rising sea levels wearing away at its coast. But the state plans to be a safer, more stable place to live in 50 years.
Over the last 15 years, Rhode Island has seen cataclysmic inland flooding, tornadoes, and rapidly rising sea levels wearing away at its coast. But the state plans to be a safer, more stable place to live in 50 years.
By Susan Crawford, guest contributor for The Epicenter, Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and founder/author of Moving Day
Over the last 15 years, Rhode Island has seen cataclysmic inland flooding, tornadoes, and rapidly rising sea levels wearing away at its coast. But the state plans to be a safer, more stable place to live in 50 years.
With 400 miles of coastline, short and shallow rivers, and sprawling watersheds where most of its population lives, Rhode Island is one of the most densely populated states in the U.S.
Rhode Island is both anticipating and, crucially, finding ways to begin to pay for the improved infrastructure its cities and towns need, even as the current federal administration draws back from funding climate adaptation projects.
From new legislation, science-driven prioritization of investments, and innovative financing vehicles, to meaningful community engagement, Rhode Island's active and well-organized all-of-government work on adaptation is groundbreaking. The state has built a model that many are now watching.
To understand what’s happening in Rhode Island, you have to start with governance. Power in the state mostly resides in the legislature—its constitution calls for a weaker executive function and a strong legislative branch. Legislators hear about flooding and climate-driven harms from constituents, and have steadily voted for funding and programs that support adaptation work.
To plan, finance, and implement that work, two state-level entities coordinate closely:
Together, these three entities—the legislature, DEM, and RIIB—are working what looks like bureaucratic magic, informed by top-notch climate science.
By January 2026, Rhode Island will have a statewide document ranking 10,000 crucial assets—infrastructure, healthcare facilities, emergency services—according to their prioritization for adaptation funding.
A state revolving fund will loan money for multi-million-dollar resilience projects, and grant funding will support smaller design efforts, all backed by bond proceeds.
This many-pronged effort is not starting from scratch. The Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank has a long history of getting successful projects done; it has already loaned out $2 billion for clean water-related projects across the state. What’s new is that the state is combining rigorous statewide climate planning with finance, directing where funds should be spent rather than sending money out in reaction to ad hoc requests.
However, state funds won’t meet every adaptation funding need. As DEM Director Terrence Gray puts it: “We’re never going to fill the gap created by federal changes.” But Rhode Island is “working through what we need to do to get the plans in place, and get the systems in place, and then do what we can with local fundraising,” he said.
RIIB's Executive Director and CEO William Fazioli repeats a saying popularized by Theodore Roosevelt: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Rhode Island’s lists of projects feeding into this process have been sent in by all 39 cities and towns in the state.
This has been a six-year process. In 2017, then-Governor Gina Raimondo made resiliency a priority, appointing the state’s first Chief Resiliency Officer. The following year, the state published its first comprehensive climate resilience strategy, “Resilient Rhody.” But, at the time, cities and towns had no pathway to access funds for the needs identified by the plan.
That changed through the Municipal Resilience Program (MRP). All 39 cities and towns went through workshops, facilitated by the Nature Conservancy, that produced clear lists of vulnerabilities and actionable steps. Participation wasn't optional: no workshop meant no access to RIIB grants. This requirement brought all 39 communities to the table.
By 2024, demand surged as extreme rainfall, flooding, wildfires, and even tornadoes hit the state. “Each community has identified a whole boatload of projects that can be funded,” says Fazioli.
Since 2019, the RIIB has awarded $24-25 million in grants, mainly sub-$1 million projects for stormwater and flood control. But demand routinely exceeds available funding by 4-5x; in one recent round, 41 proposals totaling $52 million competed for just $12 million in grants.
Woonsocket’s Truman Drive reconstruction is a standout example of how this system can work.
Truman Drive used to be a four-lane bypass speedfest. Its asphalt allowed pollutants to flow into the Blackstone River nearby while keeping stormwater from seeping into the ground.
The city identified the Blackstone River and Truman Drive as “areas of concern” and wanted to convert the road into a two-lane corridor with runoff-managing green space. A $25,000 planning grant unlocked $500,000 from EPA's SNEP program and $2 million from the RIIB.
Because municipalities must provide 25% matching funds for RIIB grants, and Woonsocket couldn't meet this requirement, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) stepped in—since the project also helped RIDOT meet its EPA obligation to reduce polluted stormwater discharges from highways.
Within five years, the project was fully built, with better stormwater management and improved pedestrian and bike access. “The best projects are ones that you can like for lots of different reasons,” says The Nature Conservancy’s Tim Mooney.
Community engagement was key. Engineer Celicia Boyden says the community “really see[s] it as an improvement and an investment” and calls the RIIB “an incredible resource.” But Truman Drive only cost about $3.5 million; serious infrastructure often costs tens or hundreds of millions. The MRP grants alone can’t meet the statewide need.
To address these larger costs, the state passed two major pieces of legislation.
The Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund, a revolving loan administered by the RIIB, will finance multi-million-dollar resilience projects. The legislation defines ‘resilience’ broadly—covering everything from coastal flooding to inland stormwater management, heat mitigation, and emergency services infrastructure.
Revolving funds are elegant, powerful tools: think of them as savings accounts for reducing climate risk. Seed capital grows as loans are repaid and new funds are added.
This fund ensures the RIIB can help meet the swelling demand for resilient infrastructure in a revolving, sustainable way. So far, the legislature has authorized $10 million, with another $20 million expected in 2026. “For every $1 we put in,” Fazioli says, “we can support $3 worth of projects.”
What projects should be funded? That’s where the Act on Coasts comes in: it requires DEM to produce a plan by the end of 2025, prioritizing assets based on vulnerability and value to the state. The firm hired to conduct the resiliency study is modeling how to compare apples and oranges—health centers, pump stations, roads, natural systems—so limited funds go where they matter most. As Gray explains: “We could have an inner-city health center that's highly susceptible to heat risk that's prioritized over a coastal sewer pump station threatened by sea-level rise.”
Beyond funding and planning, Rhode Island’s advantage lies in broad-based buy-in.
TNC's Tim Mooney, who observed many of the 39 Municipal Resilience Program workshops, says that the meetings were “always civil, they're always positive, they're always creative.” The legislature is unanimous (so far), and the executive branch is aligned and coordinating closely.
Providence’s Climate Ready Together cohorts may turn out to be a model for the rest of the country. Eight cohorts of community members meet monthly for nine months to learn about the latest climate science and understand what is likely to happen to their neighborhood over the next few decades. Sixty percent of participants are Spanish-speaking, with simultaneous translation ensuring full participation.
These community members will be ready to engage with government processes and help guide the city’s applications for RIIB funding. As executive director of the Providence Resilience Partnership Michele Jalbert puts it: “We want people in Providence to face climate change with confidence.”
Statewide prioritization, sustainable funding, and broad-based buy-in: these elements are designed to add up to a framework for thoughtful planning and investment. But, it will be important, DEM's Terrence Gray says, to get “enough money to continue to move at an acceptable pace.” The revolving fund must grow quickly, and projects must get built so that people see results. Soon.
Gray also acknowledges another risk: “We're one major storm away from not worrying about the future and worrying about the present.” If a major disaster strikes before the planning process matures, recovery could overshadow prevention—unless the Resilient Rhody plan is far enough along to guide rebuilding differently than Rhode Island did after its catastrophic 2010 floods.
And yet, Rhode Island has positioned itself better than most: it has a host of plans, projections, and institutions aimed at making the state safer, and a population willing to roll up its sleeves.
The Ocean State may be small, but it is mighty.
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Extreme weather events and a changing climate are reshaping long-term housing affordability across America. The result is a migration pattern that would have shocked demographers a decade ago: people are leaving the Sun Belt and heading to the Rust Belt.
As the climate crisis exposes broader swaths of the U.S. to severe weather, responsible future-proofing strategies must account not only for fortified development but also for comprehensive cleanup. Real resilience can't exist without effective remediation first.
Extreme weather, rising insurance premiums, new carbon regulations, and shifting market expectations are pushing commercial real estate (CRE) into uncharted territory.
A coalition including The Resiliency Company, JLL, Ryan Companies, and the Urban Land Institute created the Risk Mitigation Playbook: a practical guide based on real-world experience for those involved in commercial real estate (CRE) development, from lenders to engineers to owners.
