Losses resulting from natural hazards—including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and wildfires—cost billions of dollars each year. RAND research has shown how long-term loss-reduction strategies and disaster preparedness could improve the resilience of communities and infrastructure in the face of natural disasters, resulting in less property damage and reduced rebuilding costs.
Report
A proposal for the federal government to support state-run catastrophe-insurance programs would increase the number of people buying earthquake coverage in California and modestly lower both uninsured losses and government assistance following a major quake.
News Release
A proposal for the federal government to support state-run catastrophe-insurance programs would increase the number of people buying earthquake coverage in California and modestly lower both uninsured losses and government assistance following a major quake.
Report
Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, neither the federal government nor the private sector is any closer to developing effective solutions to the problems facing flood and windstorm insurance.
News Release
Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, neither the federal government nor the private sector is any closer to developing effective solutions to the problems facing flood and windstorm insurance.
Research Brief
In light of what occurred after Katrina and the other 2004-2005 hurricanes, the authors propose goals for an effective Gulf Coast residential insurance market and highlight policy reforms that warrant consideration for achieving those goals.
Past Event
Haiti's future prosperity and peace depend on its ability to build a more resilient state, one capable of providing public services like education and health care as well as responding effectively to natural disasters. This RAND Policy Forum will discuss what priorities need to be set in best using the $10 billion in aid from the international community.
Tool
The new Displaced New Orleans Residents Survey examines the current location, well-being, and plans of people who lived in the City of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005.
Journal Article
Expert panel discussion of the emergency response in Haiti concluded that rigorous, objective after-action reports are needed both to improve ongoing operations in Haiti and to enhance future responses to large-scale population emergencies.
Report
Considers proposals to augment the existing flood-damage protection system in New Orleans with ''nonstructural'' risk mitigation programs focused on single-family homes.
Report
This report describes the current policy context for domestic all-hazards risk-informed capabilities-based planning by local military and civilian authorities and provides a framework for a local planning support tool for their use.
Commentary
Previous efforts by the international community to stabilize Haiti have met with little or only short-term success. This time, following the earthquake, the U.S. response could actually leverage the response and recovery opportunities into a broader international plan, write Agnes Gereben Schaefer and Anita Chandra.
Project
The Homeland Security and Defense Center conducts analysis to prepare and protect communities and critical infrastructure from natural disasters and terrorism and is a joint effort of the RAND National Security Research Division and RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment.
Report
Testimony presented before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28, 2010.
Media Advisory
RAND experts are available for interviews on international relief efforts in Haiti—particularly the long-term work that will be required to rebuild the country's institutions and infrastructure—following last week's devastating earthquake that has killed as many as 200,000 people.
Research Brief
The Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study shows that it is possible to study this hard-to-survey population to determine rates of return and mental illness among residents who experienced Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Journal Article
New Orleans school children participated in an assessment and field trial of two interventions 15 months after Hurricane Katrina.
Journal Article
This study uses data from the monthly Current Population Survey to examine the short- and longer-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on the labor market outcomes of prime-age individuals in the most affected states--Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi--and for evacuees in any state.
News Release
The valuable roles that nongovernmental organizations can play in helping communities recover from disasters such as Hurricane Katrina are not well-defined in federal, state or local policies. Changing emergency planning rules to make nongovernmental organizations a key component of recovery efforts could get them involved earlier and speed the full recovery of communities after disaster strikes.
Report
Changing emergency planning rules to make nongovernmental organizations a key component of recovery efforts could get them involved earlier and speed the full recovery of communities after disaster strikes.
News Release
Researchers from the RAND Corporation have launched an in-depth study of people who lived in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to gain a better understanding of how they were affected by the hurricane and its aftermath.
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