Flood exposure and social vulnerability in the United States

Abstract

Human exposure to floods continues to increase, driven by changes in hydrology and land use. Adverse impacts amplify for socially vulnerable populations, who disproportionately inhabit flood-prone areas. This study explores the geography of flood exposure and social vulnerability in the conterminous United States based on spatial analysis of fluvial and pluvial flood extent, land cover, and social vulnerability. Using bivariate Local Indicators of Spatial Association, we map hotspots where high flood exposure and high social vulnerability converge and identify dominant indicators of social vulnerability within these places. The hotspots, home to approximately 19 million people, occur predominantly in rural areas and across the US South. Mobile homes and racial minorities are most overrepresented in hotspots compared to elsewhere. The results identify priority locations where interventions can mitigate both physical and social aspects of flood vulnerability. The variables that most distinguish the clusters are used to develop an indicator set of social vulnerability to flood exposure. Understanding who is most exposed to floods and where, can be used to tailor mitigation strategies to target those most in need.

Social Vulnerability across the Great Lakes Basin: A County-Level Comparative and Spatial Analysis

“…Social vulnerability refers to how socioeconomic status intersects with race, place, and local institutional capacities that shape the ability of communities and social groups within them to respond to disasters and extreme events that disrupt day-to-day activities [7,11]. Social vulnerability results when social, political, and economic processes combine to produce heightened susceptibility to hazards for some populations [13][14][15][16]. The application of the concept can be found in health research, hazard mitigation planning, and environmental social sciences, but the use and selection of indicators can significantly vary [9,12,15,17,18].…”

“…Social vulnerability also has a geographic pattern in the United States and identifying the unique context of these vulnerabilities is needed for city and regional planners to enhance the resiliency of places [7,10,25,26]. Identifying areas that are more socially vulnerable than others is difficult, as the context of local places can shape the degree to which any indicator impacts vulnerability [16,27]. Rather than long-term approaches to reduce social vulnerability, most community efforts focus on short-term strategies on improving access to emergency response services which are less effective in addressing the root causes of social vulnerability [20,28].…”

“…LISA values that are unexpectedly higher or lower than the global Moran's I can be mapped and represent five forms of spatial patterns: high value units next to other high value units (high-high), high-value units next to low-value units (high-low), low-value units next to high value units (low-high), low-value units next to other low-value units (low-low), and non-significant differences [61]. Previous research has applied univariate LISA statistics to identify clusters and outliers and other spatial patterns of social vulnerability [6,16,25,26,[62][63][64][65].…”

Space-Time Cluster’s Detection and Geographical Weighted Regression Analysis of COVID-19 Mortality on Texas Counties

“…Descriptive modeling research that took advantage of those strength has deeply exposed the spatial-temporal associations of COVID-19 with socioeconomic and environmental characteristics [ 14 , 15 ]. However, as far as an engaging empirical study, it is important to select variables that reveal the degree of social vulnerability [ 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Space-Time Cluster’s Detection and Geographical Weighted Regression Analysis of COVID-19 Mortality Impacts on Texas Counties

“…Descriptive modeling research that took advantage of those strength has deeply exposed the spatial-temporal associations of COVID-19 with socioeconomic and environmental characteristics [14][15]. However, as far as an engaging empirical study, it is important to select variables that reveal the degree of social vulnerability [16][17][18].…”