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Statewide Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessment for the State of Rhode Island

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The State of Rhode Island has conducted a statewide risk and vulnerability assessment to prepare for and minimize the impact of natural hazards on its communities. The state's goal is to prevent injuries and deaths, protect public and private property, and create a disaster-ready statewide economy. The assessment was conducted using the Community Vulnerability Assessment Tool. This tool, developed by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, is a methodology that employs map data layers to analyze critical facilities, and to assess the societal, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities of a community to disasters.

Rhode Island's efforts began on December 18, 1998, when Governor Lincoln Almond signed an executive order, the Showcase State Initiative, to coordinate the work of various agencies and partners. The Showcase State program brings together the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA), the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the Region I Office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other public and private partners.

The program works to make natural hazards loss reduction an integral part of everyday planning and decision making in Rhode Island, and the executive order required the state, under the leadership of RIEMA, to conduct a statewide hazard analysis and risk assessment. With funding from the NOAA Coastal Services Center and under RIEMA's direction, Odeh Engineers, Inc. conducted the statewide risk and vulnerability assessment for 39 Rhode Island communities. Using the assessment results, Rhode Island local planners and emergency managers are able to further analyze and implement enhanced emergency response, disaster recovery, and hazard mitigation strategies.

Report and Maps

For convenience, you may view the full report, just the maps, or individual chapters of the report. The reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) format. Download Adobe® Reader to view these documents.

Full Report

Statewide Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessment for the State of Rhode Island Report. (Full Report - 14 MB)

Maps

Hazard, Exposure, and Combined Score Maps (13 MB)

Chapters

Overview

Methodology for Statewide Vulnerability Assessment

Hazard Score

Exposure Score

Warwick Pilot Results, State of Rhode Island Results, Commentary on Approach and Results, References

Appendices