Using Gis to Assess Social Vulnerability to Climate Hazards in the Southern United States

Over the past few decades, efforts to assess and understand the socio-economic factors that contribute to a population’s vulnerability to meteorological hazards have increased. It has become more common to use quantitative methods to approach this issue in State Hazard Mitigation Plans written by state emergency management agencies (e.g Odeh 2002, Simpson and Human 2008). Additionally, a report from the National Climate Adaptation Summit submitted to the White House identified vulnerability assessments as a priority for the future (NCAS Committee 2010). Emergency managers can use the results of these studies to help identify at-risk populations in their location and focus their hazard preparedness efforts.