June 22 -- The U.S. Census Bureau today released the Community Resilience Estimates (
https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/community-resilience-estimates.html) to measure the ability of a population to absorb, endure and recover from the impacts of disasters, including weather-related and disease-related hazard events such as COVID-19. The new experimental data product is available through a tool which shows risk level by state, county and tract.
These estimates come from the 2018 American Community Survey, the 2018 National Center for Health Statistics National Health Interview Survey, and Population and Housing Unit Estimates.
Stakeholders including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, academic researchers, and local planners can use the estimates to study the impacts of or plan for mitigation for disasters.
Modeling techniques used to develop the estimates are flexible and can be modified for a broad range of disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc.). These experimental estimates, in their current form, are specific to the current pandemic but could be modified to fit other disease outbreaks or weather–related disasters with differing risk factors. Local planners, policy makers, public health officials, and community stakeholders can use the estimates as one tool to help assess the potential resiliency of communities and plan mitigation strategies.
Resilience to a disaster is partly determined by the vulnerabilities within a community. In order to measure these vulnerabilities, we designed an individual risk index. Within this risk index, binary risk components are defined, adding up to 11 possible risks. A risk index is constructed using the weighted aggregate of risk factor.
Technical documentation:
https://www2.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/community-resilience-estimates/2020/technical-document.pdf?#
