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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.

  • Ducklings and a swan gather on a sandbank in the Jamaica Bay neighborhood of New York City

    Report

    Building Resilience in an Urban Coastal Environment

    Jul 31, 2018

    What are the potential effects of climate change and sea level rise on flood risk, ecosystems, and water quality in New York City's Jamaica Bay? How can flood risk be reduced while also improving water quality, restoring habitat, and improving resilience to extreme weather events?

  • Aerial view of Miami, Florida

    Report

    Adapting to a Changing Climate in Southeast Florida

    Jun 6, 2018

    Florida's Miami-Dade and Broward counties are vulnerable to flooding and intrusion of saltwater into drinking water. These risks are driven by sea level rise, changes in precipitation, and urban development. How can the region adapt?

Explore Natural Hazards

  • A house burns as firefighters battle a fast-moving wildfire that destroyed homes driven by strong wind and high temperatures forcing thousands of residents to evacuate in Goleta, California, July 7, 2018

    Journal Article

    How Wildfire Risks Impact California's Homeowners Insurance Market

    Wildfire poses considerable risk to Californians, and the associated increases in home insurance prices can cause financial hardship for families. It's critical to understand how the insurance market is performing with regard to wildfire risk and how climate change may affect this performance.

    Sep 5, 2018

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Fugitive Chemicals and Environmental Justice: A Model for Environmental Monitoring Following Climate-Related Disasters

    Waterfront communities can use this six-step framework to proactively develop an environmental monitoring program to prepare for, recover from, and respond to chemical leaks after weather disasters.

    Jul 3, 2018

  • Wetlands in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, with houses in the background.

    Journal Article

    Computational Modeling of the Jamaica Bay System

    For Jamaica Bay, and other coastal areas being studied for resilience capacity, we need not only models that are published and in the public domain, but mechanisms to generate scenarios that address resilience from various perspectives.

    Jun 28, 2018

  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters in Washington, U.S., October 5, 2016

    Commentary

    FEMA's Transformation

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency's strategic plan shows several shifts in U.S. disaster relief policy. Redirecting longer-term recovery operations to state and local authorities would allow FEMA to concentrate its assets on the catastrophic disasters it is uniquely designed to handle.

    Jun 8, 2018

  • Woman communicates with telemedicine doctor by digital tablet

    Journal Article

    Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine Following Natural Disasters

    Direct-to-consumer telemedicine is a viable way to deliver medical care in the days after a natural disaster. But most people who use such services do so for routine matters, not disaster-caused illnesses.

    Jun 4, 2018

  • News Release

    News Release

    Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine Can Deliver Routine Care to Affected People Following Natural Disasters

    Direct-to-consumer telemedicine is a viable way to deliver medical care in the days following a natural disaster, although most people who use such services do so for routine matters rather than disaster-caused illnesses.

    Apr 25, 2018

  • A man selling air coolers rests at a market on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India May 4, 2017

    Commentary

    Staying Cool as the Globe Warms

    Studies suggest that the heat of the future will exceed humans' capacity to cope. But taking advantage of smart technology, inexpensive traditional methods of cooling that require little energy use, and innovative energy-efficient technologies could provide a sustainable path forward in heat-challenged regions.

    Apr 23, 2018

  • A man walks through a field amidst smog in New Delhi, India, February 7, 2018.

    Commentary

    Can Dirty-Air Discontent in New Delhi Push India Toward Greener Days?

    The downside to India's dramatic economic growth is New Delhi's off-the-charts air pollution. Public health officials have compared the harms of breathing in India's capital to smoking dozens of cigarettes a day. How bad must things become before Indians demand change and make it stick?

    Mar 22, 2018

  • Senior Airman John J. Kosequat, a pararescueman with the 103rd Rescue Squadron of the 106th Rescue Wing assigned to the New York Air National Guard, pushes an elderly man toward the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter in Houston area, August 30, 2017. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Daniel H. Farrell)

    Research Brief

    Boosting Disaster Resilience Among Older Adults

    Older adults are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. Collaborations between public health departments and organizations that promote aging in place could improve disaster resilience among older populations.

    Jan 26, 2018

  • An attendee at a community meeting reads materials about aging in place in West Hollywood, California, May 9, 2015

    Report

    Improving Older Adults' Disaster Resilience

    Most organizations that promote aging in place do not place a high priority on promoting disaster preparedness. And the resilience activities of public health departments are not focused on older adults. Tailoring existing activities to the needs of older adults could improve their disaster preparedness and resilience.

    Jan 23, 2018

  • Older man and woman surveying flood damage

    Tool

    Building Older Adults' Resilience by Bridging Public Health and Aging-in-Place Efforts: Toolkit

    This toolkit contains information and activities that can bring together those involved in aging-in-place support and those involved in disaster resilience efforts to improve the resilience of older adults to natural and human-caused disasters.

    Jan 23, 2018

  • Members of the Virgin Islands National Guard hand out food and water to civilians at a distribution point on St. Croix after Hurricane Irma, September 22, 2017

    Blog

    RAND Researchers Visit Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria

    A small team of RAND researchers went to Puerto Rico two weeks after the island was struck by Hurricane Maria. They are compiling their observations into a series of studies for the Army, with recommendations to smooth its response to future disasters.

    Dec 19, 2017

  • Laborers work at a road construction site in Kolkata, India, February 27, 2017

    Commentary

    How Hot Is Too Hot? Rising Temperatures and the Workplace

    Climate change is here. Future extreme heat waves are a given and will likely grow in intensity, geographic reach, and duration. Plans must be made now to ensure survival of the poorest, to protect outdoor workers, and to adapt economic planning to what is increasingly becoming a hotter planet.

    Nov 16, 2017

  • SFC Eladio Tirado, who is from Puerto Rico, speaks with residents as he helps during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, October 7, 2017

    Commentary

    How to Rebuild After This Year's Hurricane Season? Invest in Resilience

    Investing in resilience in an informed and systematic way can help a wide range of high-risk communities be better prepared for any future disasters.

    Nov 6, 2017

  • Map focusing on Louisiana and MIssissippi

    Brochure

    RAND Gulf States Policy Institute: Committed to Strengthening the Well-Being of the U.S. Gulf States Through Research and Analysis

    This 16-page flyer describes the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute and summarizes some of the research it has tackled since its founding in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

    Nov 1, 2017

  • Research Brief

    Research Brief

    Mapping Vulnerability to Heat Waves in India

    Using district-level data on demographic, social, economic, health, and environmental factors, RAND researchers created the first-ever tool for measuring and mapping India's population's vulnerability to heat waves: the Heat Vulnerability Index.

    Sep 15, 2017

  • Houses are seen partially submerged in flood waters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey in Northwest Houston, Texas, August 30, 2017

    Commentary

    Why Houstonians Didn't Buy Flood Insurance

    Thousands of Houston-area homeowners will face massive, uninsured losses due to flood damage. Few homeowners buy flood insurance unless they are required to, and it's only mandatory for homes with mortgages located in FEMA-defined high-risk flood zones. People tend to ignore low-probability risks.

    Sep 12, 2017

  • A rescue boat evacuates people from the rising waters of Buffalo Bayou following Hurricane Harvey in a neighborhood west of Houston, Texas, August 30, 2017

    Commentary

    Rethinking Disaster Evacuation

    Before a storm hits, officials must decide whether to evacuate the public or advise them to shelter in place. Other, more targeted choices — such as sheltering in safer locations within a city — could be available if an analytic basis for making such judgments were fully developed.

    Sep 11, 2017

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