A Flood of Data: Site Resiliency in and Along Virginia’s Rivers

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Methods for Monitoring Heritage at Risk Sites in a Rapidly Changing Environment", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2018 hurricanes Michael and Florence caused damage across wide swaths of Virginia. In response, an Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF) was created by the U.S. Congress and awarded to eligible states by the National Park Service. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources received $4.7 million in funds from the ESHPF and has since awarded numerous grants to provide disaster relief to architectural resources as well as conducting surveys of riparian areas prone to damage from storm events. These surveys are resulting in an updated inventory of 6.7% of the state’s rivers and have more than doubled documented resources in project areas. Work will continue through 2024. This paper provides a synopsis of lessons learned and project results from ESHPF attempts to gather baseline archaeological data in areas prone to continued damage from hurricanes and increased flood events.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Methods for Monitoring Heritage at Risk Sites in a Rapidly Changing Environment   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow