(The Center Square) – Over $15 million in new federal funding is heading to Virginia’s coastline to help protect communities facing rising seas, crumbling shorelines and mounting flood risks.
The investment, announced by Democratic U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, includes $10.3 million for dredging and shoreline work on Tangier Island and $4.95 million for a coastal storm risk management study in Virginia Beach and nearby cities.
Tangier Island has been losing over three feet of land each year to erosion, according to federal reports — a pace that’s already carved away much of its shoreline and left homes and working docks dangerously close to the water.
Tangier is home to just over 400 people and is only accessible by boat or small plane, making it one of the most isolated communities in Virginia. Many residents rely on commercial crabbing for income, and over 70% lack health insurance, according to U.S. Census data.
The $4.95 million study will help the region prepare for rising water by mapping flood risks and testing long-term solutions like shoreline barriers and building elevations.
City planners say more than 60,000 people in Virginia Beach live in flood-prone homes, and about 35% of the city’s evacuation routes are already vulnerable during heavy rain or tidal flooding.
Federal officials have studied erosion threats to Tangier Island for more than 50 years, recommending a seawall as early as 1976. That project, along with other shoreline protections, was never built.
In Virginia Beach, the latest study builds on years of work between the city and the Army Corps of Engineers, including a 2022 federal partnership to model storm surge, erosion and long-term flood risk.
“Coastal Virginia has long been identified as one of the most vulnerable regions of the country to flooding,” Warner and Kaine said in a joint statement. “Thanks to smart federal investments, we’re not just worrying about it anymore—we’re doing something about it.”
