From Hurricane Anxiety to Climate Action: A Journey of Hope

Facing the Fury of Nature, One Floridian Now Living in Norfolk Finds Purpose in the Fight Against Climate Change with CCAN

A blog by Britt Flanagan, member of CCAN’S Hampton Roads 757 Climate Action Team (CAT)

Growing up on the Space Coast of Florida, I was no stranger to hurricanes, but this one was different.

Hurricane Milton landfall on radar by the National Weather Service/NOAA

I knew 2024 would be a record season. Weather forecasters were chattering about the potential danger well before it started. Still, I wasn’t prepared. I was caught off guard by the sheer devastation of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Our region suffered $200 billion in infrastructure damages…230 deaths, leaving the unhealable wound of grief in its wake. So when the next storm – Hurricane Milton – reared its head just two weeks later, growing in strength and generating a path directly at my family back home, a special kind of desperate anxiety seized my heart.

Are they prepared? Will they know when to leave? What about my family members who can’t evacuate? How do you grapple with a deadly, uncontrollable force barreling its way to your hometown filled with those you love? Hours dragged on as we waited for impact, flashbacks of Hurricane Helene’s destruction on our minds. How can this season be so severe? What do we have to look forward to in the future? Will things only get worse?

After hours of checking the weather for updates and sending messages to my family to check up on their preparations, the storm finally hit. I remember being glued to my laptop at work, refreshing the weather page as it approached Tampa where it would cross the state and hit the East Coast.

By the time it reached my family, it was a Category 1 hurricane: something they were capable of handling. An exhausted relief washed over me when I heard that everyone was okay the following morning. Still, I was left grappling with that sense of anxiety.

This was a special kind of anxiety that came from a total lack of control. My family either wouldn’t or couldn’t evacuate. A huge devastating storm caused by a force I didn’t know how to grapple with: Climate Change. With climate change’s current trajectory, I’ll likely have to face this same situation again. What does someone do with that? Do they give in? Resign to fear? Hope the next storm downgrades just before it hits like Milton did? How can someone fight a force as big as climate change?

CCAN 757 CAT Action Team Beach Clean-up Event

My answer came at a concert of all places. There, in the lobby, I stumbled across something I was not expecting. Two bright-eyed, inviting individuals stood behind a table draped in blue cloth proudly sporting a logo for CCAN: Chesapeake Climate Action Network. I remember standing off to the side, tapping on my sibling’s shoulder, and pointing eagerly at the table. A flurry of excitement (and admittedly a surge of social anxiety) hit me. Could this be it? Could it finally be a chance to chip away at the ever-present feeling of hopelessness? Leianis, the Hampton Roads Organizer for CCAN, greeted us warmly and, seeing the enthusiasm in our eyes, showed us how we could sign up for updates.

Before we knew it, we were seated beneath a gazebo in Virginia Beach, with dirt on our hands as we built “seed bombs,” small, packed balls (or, in my case, stars) of fertilizer filled with seeds of native Virginian flowers. There I learned that CCAN’s Hampton Roads team was just getting its feet under them and were on their way to an official team launch. Something I had the honor and impeccable timing to be a part of! For the first time, I was surrounded by like-minded people who wanted to fight for the environment and now we had something to pour that energy into.

757 CAT Meeting

A few months later, we were in Norfolk. Many now-familiar faces surrounded my sibling and me. This was the official team launch: something new and exciting that can do so much good for our region! It was a truly collaborative experience. Leianis expertly led our group through discussions, ensuring everyone had their chance to speak. There was much deliberation as we all worked to find common ground. We each drafted a statement we thought would best reflect the team’s unique ideas in a cohesive way. Then, under the guidance of Leianis and Zander, we crafted a shared purpose statement, (or as I tend to call it, a mission statement). There was surprising power and pride in that little statement. It made this team and its potential finally start to feel real. Now we had something shared, something we crafted together, something we could rally behind. I remember leaving that meeting, feeling an exciting buzz in the air.

Our team continues to grow and develop structure. We’re each coming into our own: seeing how our little puzzle piece fits into the bigger picture of the team. There’s a flurry of ideas and potential as we pave our way forward, and for the first time in a long time, I’ve been struck with a new special kind of feeling: hope.

This fight will be a long one. There will be wins. There will be losses. I may have to face my fair share of scary storms along the way. The difference this time is I will be fighting back, and I won’t be alone.

A blog by Britt Flanagan, member of CCAN’S Hampton Roads 757 Climate Action Team (CAT).

Become an action team member today!

Hurricane Helene Mutual Aid Resources

Our hearts are with the people of Appalachia, who are currently suffering brutal devastation from climate change-supercharged Hurricane Helene. Those affected need support now more than ever – click the link below to find out how you can lend a hand. 

Then, take action: Tell Congress: Strengthen FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund for Hurricane Helene recovery

If you know of more resources that we have missed, email info@chesapeakeclimate.org

Chesterfield Residents, Community, and Climate Groups Rally Amid Fresh Zoning Challenges to Dominion Gas Plant

Dozens of concerned citizens call for the Board to protect health and climate

CHESTERFIELD, VA – Today, dozens of concerned Chesterfield County residents rallied at the monthly Chesterfield Board of Supervisors meeting to protest against the tentative placement of Dominion Energy’s proposed gas power plant in their county. The boisterous gathering was organized in response to the Board of Zoning Appeals’ refusal to hear an appeal from the Friends of Chesterfield community group – which was joined at the rally by allies from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mothers Out Front, Chesterfield County Branch NAACP, and other local advocates. Protesters held up signs and chanted slogans opposing the new plant and other fossil fuel infrastructure projects that endanger public health and contribute to climate change.

Just hours before the rally, Friends of Chesterfield announced it had filed a fresh challenge with the county, attempting to call Dominion’s zoning into question. A day prior, the Southern Environmental Law Center also published a report that it had commissioned, which found that constructing an alternative renewable-based energy portfolio would cost ratepayers less than half the projected cost of CERC while providing the same annual energy and peak capacity – addressing reliability concerns.

As the rally gathered momentum, speakers addressed the crowd outside of the building before entering to address the Board meeting with public comments including the following:

Statement from Melissa Thomas, Mothers Out Front: 

“Residents of Chesterfield County, who have for decades endured the harmful consequences of pollution from fossil fuel combustion in their community, are pleading with their locally elected representatives to exercise the authority entrusted to them. Their request is straightforward: Please grant us the opportunity to voice our concerns in a public hearing.”

Statement from Glen Besa, Friends of Chesterfield: 

“Why is the Board of Supervisors refusing to hold a hearing on Dominion Energy’s massive methane gas power plant that would be the county’s largest source of air pollution? That is a question that every resident of Chesterfield should be asking Chairman Holland and all the county supervisors.” 

Statement from Rachel James, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), speaking on behalf of her client: 

“The Chesterfield Branch of the NAACP is committed to elevating the voices of underrepresented groups to ensure their inputs inform each stage of the decision-making processes associated with Dominion’s proposed gas plant. The challenge here is that instead of stepping up to take advantage of the opportunity for local input into the air permit evaluation, the Board of Supervisors is stepping back. The Board is deferring to the Department of Environmental Quality to make a determination that the law recognizes local governing bodies, informed by their constituents, are equipped to make. Holding a public hearing on the issue of site suitability is completely within the Board’s authority to do. Refusing to hold a hearing is unacceptable. That’s why we’re here.”

Statement from Mason Manley, Central Virginia Organizer for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN):

“For more than a year now, Chesterfield residents have expressed their discontent at the lack of meaningful public participation in county approval processes for the so-called Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center. Now, the voices of Chesterfield residents could not be clearer: telling the Board to hold a vote on the matter of Site Suitability and Value and vote ‘No.’” 

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with climate change in the Chesapeake Bay region. For more than 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and beyond.