NOAA’s tool now brings disaster risk, vulnerability to the community level

NOAA’s comprehensive billion dollar disaster mapping tool It now includes U.S. Census data – providing local community-level insight into more than 100 weather and climate hazards for multiple users of hazard risk, exposure, and vulnerability.

Updated interactive maps from NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) cover all 50 states and the District of Columbia and provide information on more than 72,000 US census tracts, which are small county units with an average population of about 4,000. Users can now see a community’s combined physical vulnerability, socioeconomic vulnerability and natural disaster resilience indicators at a better level than ever before.

“The updated tool will provide a better understanding of how weather, ocean and climate disasters affect many Americans at the community level and help guide targeted preparation and mitigation efforts as we build a climate-ready nation,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spirad, Ph.D. It will grow communities and economies, and strengthen our support for vulnerable populations facing extreme weather, ocean and climate risks.

The census tract data builds on county-level data added to last year’s mapping. Weather and climate hazards that are visible through the device are severe storms and hurricanes; drought events and heat waves; Hurricanes and tropical storms; wild fire River-basin and urban flooding; And winter storms, freeze events and cold waves.

“This tool will help the public better understand the risks to the American people and our economy. It shows how combining resources from the Census Bureau and NOAA can advance each agency’s mission.” US Census Bureau Director Robert L. Santos. We are excited to see American Community Survey data being used in this new tool. We look forward to collaborating with NOAA in the future on a tool that further integrates our data.

The new maps provide selected socioeconomic vulnerability data using the CDC Social Vulnerability IndexIt’s from the Census Bureau. A study of American society Data. There are several factors that can indicate vulnerability in census tract data:

• Socio-economic status;
• Family composition and disability status;
• Minority status and language; And
• Housing type and transportation availability.

Analyzing this data can help identify areas of high risk and socioeconomic vulnerability. Decision makers can use this information to plan to reduce risk and better understand where to focus investment, especially in areas where resources are scarce.

“This mapping tool will help people understand the risk of weather and climate hazards where they live – as we face more costly extreme weather events,” said Adam Smith, NOAA NCEI’s billion-dollar hazard expert. For example, a user can explore multiple disaster threats, such as drought, wildfires, and floods affecting vulnerable populations in the US Southwest, or see how hurricanes, floods, and severe storms in the Gulf Coast can significantly impact their communities. He said.

The new tool comes at a time when the number and cost of billion-dollar accidents in the U.S. is rising. In the year As of January 2020, the country has experienced 51 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, causing more than $275 billion in damage and nearly 1,000 deaths. From January to June 2022, the US has already been hit by various $9 billion in disasters, the start of the year.

> See interactive updated state and county-level maps on NOAA’s Billion-Dollar Disasters website.