Planning for the Socially Vulnerable in Disaster Management
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Transcript of Planning for the Socially Vulnerable in Disaster Management
Research Lead The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coastalhazardscenter.org
Planning for the Socially Vulnerable in Disaster Management
Bennetta Robinson; DHS DIEM Intern (Summer 2011); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Philip Berke, PhD; Principal Investigator; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Lead The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coastalhazardscenter.org
Research Questions• To what extent do hazard plans account for
socially vulnerable populations?
• To what extent do social vulnerability indices relate to the quality of the plans?
Research Lead The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coastalhazardscenter.org
Methods for Plan Quality and SoVI Assessment• A plan quality score was tabulated according to the presence
of plan quality principles and associated plan quality indicators
• Data collected through the United States Census Bureau (2000) was used to derive a social vulnerability index based on the Susan Cutter SoVI model.
• For each county, a PQ and a SoVI index score were calculated.
Research Lead The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coastalhazardscenter.org
SoVI Model
Research Lead The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coastalhazardscenter.org
Findings• Findings from the sample study area highlight
that hazard mitigation plan do not account for inclusion of marginalized populations.
• The Pearson product-moment correlation (r) between SoVI scores and plan quality scores was -0.20. implying a weak relationship between the two variables.
Research Lead The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill coastalhazardscenter.org
Implications• FEMA should should develop specific guidelines on how
to create direction-setting and action-oriented components of hazard mitigation plans that account for marginalized populations.
• Because the relationship between PQ and SoVI is weak, future research should examine other factors that might influence how well plans account for marginalized populations.