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.
Federal support for health security research is heavily weighted toward preparing for bioterrorism and other biological threats, providing significantly less funding for challenges such as monster storms or attacks with conventional bombs.
The U.S. Forest Service should upgrade its large airborne firefighting fleet to include more amphibious scooper aircraft, with air tankers and helicopters in a supporting role during the initial attack of fires before they become large.
The composition of households in New Orleans made the city's families more vulnerable to breakup during the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Louisiana homeowners who sought federally-funded grants through “The Road Home” program for homes damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had to wait more than eight months on average to receive grants.
Despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many schools have not been able to fulfill students' mental health needs over the long term.
Affordable housing recovery in three coastal counties in Mississippi heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina lags behind the pace of the rest of the housing market in the region.
RAND Study Finds Wind Insurance Costly and Scarce on Gulf of Mexico Coast.
The U.S. Army should change the way it plans for domestic emergencies — both natural disasters and terrorist attacks — to better support state and local first responders, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today.
January 18, 2007 News Release: Report Finds Nearly Half of California Hospitals Unprepared to Meet Deadlines for Seismic Safety
November 29, 2006 News Release: RAND Study Says Many Louisiana Students Displaced by Hurricanes May Suffer Academically.
October 24, 2006 News Release: Governor Barbour Announces Project to Extend Study of Gulf Coast Housing Needs.
October 24, 2006 News Release: RAND Toolkit Identifies Programs for Long-Term Recovery Among Children Exposed to Significant Traumatic Events.
October 23, 2006 News Release: RAND Report Stresses Importance of Advanced Planning for Flood Recovery.
June 8, 2006 News Release: RAND Report Says Action Needed to Speed Rebuilding of Affordable Housing in Hurricane-Damaged Mississippi.
RAND news release: RAND Study Says Few Homeowners Buy Flood Insurance When It Is Not Required
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