Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness

In recent years, the effects of climate change in Worcester have become more apparent, specifically in the number of extreme, and often conflicting, weather events over the last decade.

As New England now has more intense precipitation events, Worcester was twice designated America’s 2nd Snowiest U.S. City (population 100,000 or more) during the winters of 2012-2013 (109”of snow) and 2014-2015 (120” of snow). At the same time, climate change has also led to more extreme and prolonged heat waves during the summer months.

For example, in 2016, the City was in Stage III drought, yet, in the fall of that same year, an intense rain event caused severe flash flooding, exposing the City’s stormwater system vulnerabilities.

For example, in 2016, the City was in Stage III drought, yet, in the fall of that same year, an intense rain event caused severe flash flooding, exposing the City’s stormwater system vulnerabilities.

As climate change intensifies weather events, it is becoming more important than ever for the City to plan and prepare for the hazards caused by such extreme weather events.

In 2019, Worcester completed a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plan. Through the MVP Planning Process, including a full-day community workshop in January, the community identified natural hazards (also referred to as extreme weather events) which are exacerbated by climate change, as well as priority actions for addressing vulnerabilities caused by these hazards. Click here to learn more. Here is a video of the listening session that summarized key findings (June 13, 2019).

A small group facilitator leads discussion at a small table during the Worcester Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness workshop on January 25, 2019.

Navigate to the following links for more information:


MVP Plan:

City of Worcester Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Plan: Findings & Recommendations; June 2019

MVP Report - Appendix A: Presentation from the Community Resilience Building Workshop (1/25/2019)

MVP Report - Appendix B: Worcester Flooding and Critical Assets Map

MVP Report - Appendix C: Final risk matrix resulting from the CRB workshop

MVP Report - Appendix D: Presentation from the Listening Session of the Draft MPV Plan Key Findings (6/13/2019)

Video of the MVP Plan Listening Session - June 2019


City Related Resources:

Worcester Emergency Preparedness website

Worcester Hazard Mitigation Plan - Adopted Feburary 26, 2019

Worcester Integrated Water Resource Management Plan - Completed in October 2019

EPA report featuring City of Worcester “Evaluating Urban Resilience to Climate Change: A Multi-Sector Approach” (finalized January 2017)

Worcester Climate Action Plan - Final Report (9.4MB); Executive Summary (467KB). Adopted in 2007


Other Related Resources & Websites:

ResilientMA (resilient MA Climate Clearinghouse, state of Massachusetts)

U.S. Global Change Research Program

www.Floodsmart.gov (FEMA website)

www.Ready.gov (Dept of Homeland Security)