Physical and social vulnerabilities of coastal Gulf communities

[aebudden]

Author: Courtney Page Topics: Human health

Synthesis Summary

Among the communities in the Gulf Coast, which face both physical and social vulnerability to disasters? The Gulf coast has historically been a target for large storm surges that deliver damaging payloads of wind and rain to coastal communities. In this research project, our group synthesis project can use data publicly available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to map coastal and inland communities who have been historically in the eye of the storm. We can overlay physical vulnerability with proxy indicators of social capital, such as political involvement, trends in volunteerism and philanthropic giving and engagement in community-based organization from ESRI Business Analyst based on a block group unit of analysis to determine which communities face a dual threat from extreme weather. Based on our determination of which communities face a dual threat, we can also investigate the access these communities have to hospitals, urgent care facilities and health centers to identify communities that lack health resources in times of need.

Impact and Significance

The findings of this research will give policy makers the information they need to determine which communities are vulnerable to dual threats. Communities that can overcome threats to the increasing threat of climate change not only need physical infrastructure, such as seawalls and berms, but they also need the social infrastructure to cope with large shocks to their communities. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, communities with lower levels of social capital left and did not return, leaving many homes abandoned, resulting in urban blight and physical signs of decay to this day, whereas, communities with higher levels of social capital were more resilient; individuals returned home and bounced back from Hurricane Katrina. Resilient communities are those that have strong social ties which reinforce norms of reciprocity and trust, resulting in collective action and mutual aid following a disaster to return a community to what it was, or better. Mapping these communities will provide policy makers at the federal, state, and local level with the information they need to take action to implement programs that build norms of trust and reciprocity in communities to build a more resilient Gulf Coast.

[kdorans]

I think this is a great idea! I also wanted to pass on this information about a social vulnerability index in LA: http://coastal.la.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Attachment_C4-11.2.pdf. Perhaps the project could first focus on the coastal area of one Gulf state or region and then expand out from there?

[ascyoung]

Good proposal. I think it would go very well with my proposal #17 and with #31. Merging these ideas would get at both ecosystem thresholds and human thresholds in terms of short term (hurricanes, etc) and long term (sea level rise) disasters.

[vdtobias]

This is a very interesting proposal. I agree with @ascyoung that this proposal might be similar to #17 and #31. (#31 is my proposal.) Perhaps #11 would also fit in because it talks about water level fluctuations and impacts on coastal communities. Maybe these four could be combined.

[askolker]

Good ideas here. There are certainly some overlaps between this proposal and the one I proposed- #11.

[blombergbn]

Great ideas. In addition to the other complementary proposals mentioned, I think a portion of my proposal (#12) could be relevant here. In addition to the factors mentioned in this proposal, we could expand to also look at employment vulnerability. Many households in the Gulf coast are dependent on fisheries for their livelihoods, and the fishery closings following a disaster like the DWH would add another layer of vulnerability to impacted communities and households.

[aesacco]

Your ideas are fantastic! These types of assessments are integral in assessing how infrastructure can be built up around natural disaster-prone areas, as well as where to focus resources in the event of another disaster in the future.