Skip to page content

Natural Hazards

Featured

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.

Multimedia

RAND Remote: Partnering with Communities on Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery

Feb 25, 2021

In this RAND Remote conversation, Marielena Lara and Gabriela Castro discuss the partnered approach they used to support reconstruction and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Report

When Hurricanes Happen During Pandemics

Dec 9, 2020

Hurricanes can change patterns of mobility and expand the spread of COVID-19, for example, to communal shelters. On the other hand, fear of the virus could cause people who might otherwise evacuate to shelter in place, resulting in more deaths from a hurricane. How can policymakers prepare for this threat?

Explore Natural Hazards

Testimony

Core Principles of Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Public health emergencies are defined by their consequences, not their causes. That means infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 qualify, but so do some hurricanes and terrorist attacks. What can policymakers do to support effective public health emergency preparedness?

Mar 16, 2021
Commentary

Climate Change Migration: Developing a Security Strategy for All

Over the past decade, an average of 21.5 million people annually have been forced to move due to the impacts of extreme weather. Building an understanding of the intersection between climate change, migration, and security is crucial and should take into account that many who face the most direct impacts of climate change are already among the most vulnerable.

Mar 15, 2021
Commentary

For Americans Uprooted by Climate Change, Mental Health Is the Next Crisis

Across the United States, climate change is leading to migration. The challenges climate migrants face are not limited to basic needs, such as housing and employment. Rather, displacement may also create trauma. It's imperative that policymakers take mental health into account when devising climate change policies.

Mar 15, 2021
Journal Article

The Family Crisis Migration Stress Framework: A Framework to Understand the Mental Health Effects of Crisis Migration on Children and Families Caused by Disasters

We synthesize relevant theories and models of disaster, migration, and family resilience to create a framework to organize the complex processes that occur within families as a result of migration and that affect the mental health of children.

Mar 2, 2021
Commentary

Lessons for Central America's Recovery from Hurricanes

As the global community works to assist Central America in recovering from the disastrous 2020 hurricane season, other recent recovery efforts offer helpful lessons, both for the governments of the region as well as outsiders providing resources and support.

Jan 11, 2021
Journal Article

Achievements and Needs for the Climate Change Scenario Framework

Over the past ten years, the climate change research community has developed a scenario framework combining alternative futures of climate and society to facilitate integrated research and consistent assessment to inform policy. Here we assess how well this framework is working and what challenges it faces.

Jan 6, 2021
Journal Article

The Measurement of Disaster Recovery Efficiency Using Data Envelopment Analysis: An Application to Electric Power Restoration

This paper considers disaster severity to assess efficiency for electric utilities. We provide an application to recent post-hurricane restoration activities across different electric power companies in the states and territories of the United States.

Dec 15, 2020
Commentary

Improving Cost Estimation for Natural Disasters in Electric Utilities

Natural disasters in the United States cause billions of dollars of damage to electric infrastructure every year. Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning in a disaster-recovery context for electrical utilities might significantly improve cost estimating capability and responsiveness.

Dec 4, 2020
Commentary

Disaster Reporting and Its Impacts on Policy and Inequities

Disaster news tropes may capture audience attention, but they ultimately frustrate progress in mitigating the short- and long-term effects of disasters on communities. It's more important than ever that news stories about disasters frame the effects of environmental phenomena in meaningful ways.

Nov 16, 2020
Blog

Veterans Day, Psychedelic Drug Policy, Family Caregivers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses supporting veterans with mental health and substance use disorders, changes to psychedelic drug policy, the vital role of family caregivers, and more.

Nov 13, 2020
Report

Recovery in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Progress, Challenges, and Options for the Future

This report provides analysis to help the U.S. Virgin Islands accelerate recovery from the 2017 hurricanes. It describes goals, accomplishments, challenges, and steps needed to improve recovery capacities, infrastructure, the economy, and services.

Nov 11, 2020
Commentary

Another Record-Breaking Fire Season Shows the Need for a Comprehensive Strategy

Year after year, fires across western U.S. states scorch forests, rangeland, and neighborhoods, wreaking havoc on rural economies and pushing smoke into cities. Policymakers should consider a coordinated and comprehensive effort that brings together the best minds in government, communities, and academia.

Nov 6, 2020
Research Brief

Green Infrastructure Can Help Manage Rainfall in an Urban Watershed

Urbanization, inadequate investment in aging infrastructure, and more-frequent heavy rainfall events due to climate change have led to sewer overflows, flooding, and reduced water quality in U.S. cities. The challenges of increasing volumes of stormwater can be addressed by a mix of solutions.

Oct 29, 2020
Report

Managing Heavy Rainfall with Green Infrastructure

An evaluation of Pittsburgh's Negley Run watershed shows how green stormwater infrastructure could reduce flooding and provide positive economic benefits in areas that face urgent flood risk.

Oct 26, 2020
Journal Article

Framework for a Community Health Observing System for the Gulf of Mexico Region: Preparing for Future Disasters

We propose the creation of a Gulf of Mexico Community Health Observing System, focused on effects of disasters on the health and well-being of people and their communities.

Oct 21, 2020
Report

Insuring Public Buildings, Contents, Vehicles, and Equipment Against Disasters

What insurance and financial risk management practices do state and local governments employ for buildings, contents, vehicles, and equipment, and what role does Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance play in these decisions?

Oct 9, 2020
Commentary

HSOAC Hosts Seminar Series on Improving Equity in Disaster Policy

Natural and biological hazards, and critically the human response to these hazards, have the potential not only to exacerbate existing population inequities but also to create them. To better understand the equity implications of disaster policies, the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center invited several experts to share their knowledge.

Oct 7, 2020
Report

Modernizing Puerto Rico's Housing Sector Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria: Post-Storm Challenges and Potential Courses of Action

Puerto Rico's housing sector needs a big fix. Through a careful analysis of housing damage caused by the 2017 hurricanes, the authors make informed recovery recommendations for policymakers so they can repair and rebuild safe and affordable housing.

Sep 30, 2020

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next

RAND Topic:
Natural Hazards

Topic Synonyms:
Natural Disasters

Research conducted by