Coastal Services Center

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Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Steps Hazards Analysis

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Extended Discussion | Interact with Data | Print Version

Why would I do this analysis?

Essentially, a hazards analysis provides you with maps that indicate which areas in your community are most susceptible to hazards. To effectively narrow the focus of your vulnerability assessment, you must first identify the risk areas within your community. In order to obtain the most complete and comprehensive results, it is advisable that you consider all hazards facing your community. If there are data limitations, it is possible to focus your analysis on only one hazard of particular concern. Keep in mind, however, that the more risk data included in your analysis, the more opportunity there will be to focus your assessment activities in your highest-risk areas.

Read the extended discussion for detailed information on identifying hazards in your community.

Give me an example of something I might do in this analysis.

Creating hazard maps will assist you with determining which areas are susceptible to individual hazards, multiple hazards, or possibly all hazards that have been identified. The appropriate decision makers can use maps that depict individual hazards or a combination of hazards.

• Local floodplain managers will use flood maps for floodplain management.
• Local coastal zone managers will use surge and erosion maps to manage the natural environment (e.g., effects of surge and erosion on sand dunes and sensitive habitats).
• Building officials or the public works department will use multi-hazard maps to determine how and where to construct infrastructure or buildings (e.g., to resist winds of a certain speed, to be built above the 100-year floodplain).
• Local businesses located on the coast could use multi-hazard maps for business continuity planning (e.g., to determine if their buildings are wind resistant or if their flood insurance policy coverage limits are sufficient).
• The mayor or county council could use multi-hazard maps to determine which areas are susceptible to the most destructive hazards in order to determine where to concentrate and fund hazard mitigation measures (e.g., developing property protection ordinances or encouraging development in less hazard-prone areas).

What are my steps?

In order to locate your highest-risk areas, it may be helpful to first develop a risk-prioritization scheme. It is possible to develop such a scheme using publicly available data, although local data — data collected from local agencies — will almost always be more detailed and more accurate. For each hazard being addressed, you should research the available data pertaining to the location of high-risk areas.

1. Locate, gather, and process data
2. Assign scores to risk areas (higher rankings should indicate higher risk)
3. Identify high-risk locations (areas with highest scores)
4. Focus your vulnerability assessment on areas and/or structures located in the highest risk locations

What data will I need?

Since the Coastal Storms Program focuses only on hazards associated with coastal storms, there are four primary data layers that will be included in this hazards analysis.

• Storm Surge
• Wind Zones
• Flood Zones
• Erosion

Where can I obtain these data and information?

Every community may have unique or unusual hazards that need to be considered. Historical records and/or information from local experts and citizens can be used to provide estimates of the zones or locations potentially at risk to such events. Even if no digital (geographic information systems or GIS) data are available for your area, it is still possible to construct risk maps showing estimates of hazard extents and magnitudes by using transparencies overlaid on paper maps. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center has constructed two Web pages that list potential sources for geospatial data and information.

Use the following links to explore potential sources for data in and around your area:

Hazard Information and Data Resources

Coastal Geospatial Information: Examples of Internet Resources

Who do I need to work with? What agencies can help me locate the necessary data and information?

To access many of these governmental and organizational Web sites, view the Links page. A complete list of agencies and stakeholders is also available.

Some potential sources of information regarding hazards in your community may include your local county and/or city emergency management office's comprehensive plan; response operations records of county and/or city emergency services organizations; flood insurance rate maps, hurricane storm surge maps; hazard computer modeling results and meteorological records from the NOAA National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, or private weather services; geological information from the state geologist or local building inspectors; and information from agricultural extension agents, local and environmental organizations, and fisheries/wildlife agencies.

Local (city/municipality or county level) — Planning Office/Tax Assessor, GIS Office, Emergency Management, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the American Red Cross (ARC), and others

Regional (state level) — Emergency Management, Environmental Protection Office, NGOs, and others

National (federal level) — Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Census Bureau, NGOs, and others

Interact with the Data

Follow this link to view and interact with data pertaining to the Hazards Analysis.

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