Battleship Park awarded grant to alleviate flooding problems

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina park containing a piece of history has received a grant to help protect it from an increase in flooding.

News outlets report the N.C. Clean Water Management Fund awarded $400,000 to Battleship North Carolina near the Cape Fear River last week.

The Battleship is currently working on a $2 million effort to protect the park and ship from high water. Capt. Terry Bragg told StarNews of Wilmington the goal is to design and engineer a plan, create a living shoreline and construct a wetland near the parking lot. A living shoreline would replace concrete blocks between the water and land with vegetation and landscaping similar to the existing marsh.

WWAY-TV reports a National Weather Service tidal gauge shows an extraordinary rise in flooding events since the 1970s.