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Natural Hazards

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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.

Essay
An Early Warning System for Landslides Protects Sitka, Alaska
A 2015 landslide that killed three people in Sitka, Alaska, changed how residents looked at the steep hills all around them. The community worked with researchers to develop a warning system to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Mar 14, 2023
Q&A
Earthquake in Turkey, Syria: Insights from RAND Researchers
Thousands of people have been confirmed dead in one the strongest earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria in the past century. As search-and-rescue missions ended and recovery began, a handful of RAND researchers shared some of their initial thoughts.
Feb 14, 2023

Explore Natural Hazards

Report
An Initial Methodology for Evaluating Social Equity Performance in Disaster Mitigation Grants: The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program
The authors explore how the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program addresses the greatest natural hazard risks for mitigation (predisaster actions to reduce damage and ease recovery) while also integrating social equity factors.
Mar 22, 2023
Periodical
RAND Review: March-April 2023
The cover story describes how K-12 schools can build trust with students to increase threat reporting and strengthen school safety. The Q&A with Ashley Woo explores how restrictions on race- and gender-related topics are affecting teachers.
Mar 22, 2023
Blog
Opioids in America, Silicon Valley Bank, Semiconductors: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on addressing America's illicit opioids problem, Silicon Valley Bank’s demise, Taiwan’s semiconductor dominance, and more.
Mar 17, 2023
Journal Article
Community-Level, Participatory Co-Design for Landslide Warning with Implications for Climate Services
This paper describes a community-level co-design process among academic, state, and federal scientists and the community of Sitka, Alaska to develop a novel landslide warning system for the small coastal town.
Mar 1, 2023
Journal Article
Capacities of Health Systems in Climate Migrant Receiving Communities: Insights in the US Gulf Coast
This report examines how health care delivery systems in receiving communities meet the needs of climate migrants in three case study sites in the US Gulf Coast.
Mar 1, 2023
Journal Article
International Humanitarian Narratives of Disasters, Crises and Indigeneity
Narratives are a means of making sense of disasters and crises. We identify and characterise narratives in humanitarian communications involving Indigenous Peoples by conducting a narrative analysis of humanitarian communications.
Feb 22, 2023
Journal Article
Social Vulnerability Shapes the Experiences of Climate Migrants Displaced by Hurricane Maria
The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of climate change related migrants. To do so we draw on focus group discussions with Puerto Ricans in South and Central Florida displaced by 2017 Hurricane Maria.
Feb 21, 2023
Blog
Earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Facial Recognition, Gun Violence: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, regulating the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, improving data collection on gun violence, and more.
Feb 17, 2023
Report
How Can DoD Compare Damage Costs Against Resilience Investment Costs for Climate-Driven Natural Hazards? Overview of an Analytic Approach, Its Advantages, and Its Limitations
This report assesses methods to compare the damage costs from climate change-related extreme weather events against the costs of investing in U.S. Department of Defense installation resilience.
Feb 2, 2023
Journal Article
How Disasters Drive Media Channel Preferences: Tracing News Consumption Before, During, and After Hurricane Harvey
Understanding public media channel preferences can inform preparedness plans, response strategies, and long-term recovery.
Feb 1, 2023
Journal Article
Perceived Environmental Threats, Place Attachment, and Natural Resource Employment: Predicting Willingness to Move from a Threatened Coastline
This study examines the factors predicting willingness to move among residents of southeast Louisiana.
Jan 25, 2023
Commentary
Grounded: The FAA Alert System Failure Could Be a Wake-Up Call
It turned out to be a system failure that grounded thousands of flights on January 11, but U.S. critical infrastructure faces a range of threats—from Russian hackers, to weather events, to angry individuals with guns. The government and organizations responsible for critical infrastructure can take steps to actively manage these risks.
Jan 13, 2023
Journal Article
City-Heat Equity Adaptation Tool (City-HEAT): Multi-objective Optimization of Environmental Modifications and Human Heat Exposure Reductions for Urban Heat Adaptation Under Uncertainty
Rising global temperatures and the urban heat island effect can amplify heat-related health risks to residents. Cities are considering various heat adaptation actions to improve public health, enhance social equity, and cope with future conditions.
Jan 4, 2023
Multimedia
Emergency Management in California: Reflections by Mark Ghilarducci
During a November 2022 webinar, Mark Ghilarducci, the Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), reflected on his more than 30 years of experience and diversified service in public safety and emergency management at the local, state, and federal levels.
Dec 30, 2022
Tool
Climate Hazard and Mitigation Planning (CHaMP) Tool: Background and Guidance for Users
The Climate Hazard and Mitigation Planning online tool is an interactive website designed to provide users with a single point of access to county-, state- and region-specific historical climate and hazard data and projected climate information.
Nov 2, 2022
Dissertation
Financial Mechanisms in a Disaster Aftermath: The Mexican Case
Explores the financial mechanisms available to individuals and governments after a disaster in developing countries, using Mexico as a case study.
Oct 25, 2022
Brochure
Disaster Management and Resilience
This brochure describes RAND's work, which directly supports decisionmakers in developing actionable planning and policy for disaster management and resilience.
Oct 20, 2022
Q&A
Q&A with the Experts: Puerto Rico
When Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico on September 18, electricity went out across the island. It was a reminder that recovery from 2017's Hurricane Maria is far from complete. RAND researchers discuss the difficulties Puerto Rico is still facing.
Oct 10, 2022

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RAND Topic:
Natural Hazards

Topic Synonyms:
Natural Disasters

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Benjamin Lee Preston

Director, Community Health and Environmental Policy Program

Benjamin Preston (he/his) is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and director of Community Health and Environmental Policy, a program of RAND Social and Economic Well-Being. He is also a professor at Pardee RAND Graduate School. He is temporarily on leave from RAND to serve as the…
David G. Groves

Adjunct Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School

David Groves is an adjunct professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He was formerly a founding codirector of the RAND Climate Resilience Center and codirector of the RAND Center on Decision Making Under Uncertainty. He is a key developer of new methods for decisionmaking under deep…

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