New NOAA Tool Pinpoints Natural Disaster Risk at Local Level

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) just released a publicly available innovative mapping tool that provides county-level information on natural disaster hazards across the United States. This new resource also significantly augments the state-level data on NOAA’s Billion-Dollar Disasters website. The interactive mapping tool offers detailed information on a locality’s vulnerability to weather and climate hazards that can lead to natural disasters—such as wildfires, floods, droughts, tornadoes, and hurricanes. “The tool expands upon FEMA’s National Risk Index to provide a view of a location’s risk for, and vulnerability to, single or multiple combinations of weather and climate hazards for every county and county-equivalent in all 50 states, and the District of Columbia,” according to NOAA.

The frequency and cost of extreme weather events in the U.S. has been increasing considerably. In just 2020, the U.S. experienced 22 separate billion-dollar climate and weather disasters that killed at least 262 people. Additionally, from January 1st, 2021, to October 8th, 2021, there were 18 natural disasters in the U.S. that cost at least $1 billion each. “The increasing number and cost of billion-dollar disasters can be linked to a combination of factors, including increased exposure, social vulnerability and climate change,” said Russell Vose, chief of the NOAA NCEI Climatic Analysis and Synthesis Branch. “This new tool will support informed decision-making for saving lives and protecting property across the United States.” Read more at NOAA.