Climate Change

• Hazard Mitigation Plan for Dukes County  The 2015 update of the Island’s Hazard Mitigation Plan for Dukes County was completed by MVC staff working closely with various town staff and other concerned groups and individuals. This plan was updated in May 2020 (draft under review).  The plan seeks to identify areas susceptible to natural disaster such as wind, water, fire; to assess the risk to natural, and man-made resources and to people; and to recommend measure to minimize the negative effects of such disasters should they occur. This revision of the plan includes an initial look at the potential impacts of sea-level rise. The plan has been approved by the Massachusetts and federal emergency management agencies, MEMA and FEMA, and adopted by the seven towns. The towns are eligible for 75% funding for mitigation measures to lessen the potential impacts of natural hazards.

The 2015 update remains the offcial approved HMP plan for the 7 Dukes County towns.  

For each town's HMP maps, click below:

• Aquinnah Maps

• Chilmark Maps

• Edgartown Maps

• Gosnold Maps

• Oak Bluffs Maps

• Tisbury Maps

• West Tisbury Maps

• MVP: The towns of Aquinnah, Chilmark, West Tisbury, Gosnold, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and Tisbury have completed their Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Summary of Findings reports. These reports summarize the outcomes from the Community Resilience Building Workshops that occured between 2018 and 2020.

How to Read Flood and Storm Maps

Flood and Storm maps may be confusing.  There are storm surge maps of inundation from the dangerous surge of rising hurricane waters. There are flood maps for a nor'easter type of storm.  FEMA produces the flood maps to determine rates for its federally-subsidized flood insurance policies. Towns (except Chilmark) use the maps in floodplain regulations to keep the subsidies available.

Here is a handy 2-sided guide to reading each type of map.​

• Hurricane Surge Inundation Maps
• Flood Zone Maps - Effective​
• Visualizing Sea-Level Rise (video):  In order to illustrate the impacts of sea level rise, the MVC prepared a series of maps showing what the impact might be on the Island, and visual simulations showing what this could look like in a number of critical locations. These illustrations use an estimate of 1.5 feet by 2050 and 5.0 feet by 2100, representing a plausible sea-level rise scenario, corresponding roughly to Rahmstorf’s moderate-emissions scenario that assumes no significant decrease in the global production of greenhouse gases, along with at least 4.4” per century added to account for land subsidence.​
• The Drought and Wildfire Hazards Assessment and Mitigation includes vulnerability assessments by town, including maps of the areas at greatest risk as well as tables of vulnerable persons and property, both for existing and potential future buildings.  The greatest risk is areas where there are houses in heavily wooded areas, or northeast of them where fire could be carried by prevailing winds (e.g. neighborhoods northeast of the State Forest).​
• VCS Climate Change Resources: The Vineyard Conservation Society’s website includes links to a number of reports about climate change and Martha's Vineyard including: Emissions Scenarios and Global Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Human Health Impacts.