(Undated)– From historic floods to the 2020 derecho, Iowans are familiar with natural disasters. With the spring storm season under way, local governments are reminded of a tool to determine if their residents will have a harder time recovering from these events. The U-S Census Bureau says its new Community Resilience Estimates tool compiles certain characteristics of a neighborhood, such as socio-economic factors and transportation options. The bureau’s Bethany DeSalvo says they then use the data to predict how vulnerable a household is in the face of a flood or tornado…
That could include overcoming language barriers in seeking disaster assistance. DeSalvo says the tool can help local planners come up with more resources in a vulnerable area, including evacuation spaces. According to the bureau, roughly 20-percent of residents across Iowa have three or more risk factors. Another 40-percent have one or two. DeSalvo says a key goal behind this initiative is to establish more equity in disaster recovery. But she says it also can help reduce government costs in rebuilding after a storm…
In addition to local governments, DeSalvo says this can be a vital tool for FEMA. She says it can help the agency determine the number and type of personnel to deploy, along with disaster assistance programs that can be activated for specific areas. And with the 2020 census continuing historical trends in terms of undercounts for racial groups, officials say this approach might address some of the subsequent service gaps in not counting everybody.
(Courtesy Iowa News Service)
