Risks and Vulnerability Factors

County Demographics

The two counties I selected were Shelby County in Tennessee and Orleans County in Vermont. In 2011, Shelby County experienced $2,000,000,000 in property damage due to flooding on May 1, 2,470,000 in property damage due to severe storms and thunderstorms beginning on April 19, 150,000 due to flooding beginning on April 27, and $20,000 in property damage beginning April 26. During all of these disasters there were no injuries, fatalities, or crop damage.

In 2011, Orleans county incurred $500,000,000 in property damage from flooding beginning on August 28, $150,000 in property damage due to lightening beginning July 6, and $50,000 in property damage due to wind on August 28. There was also flooding on April 26 that accumulated $50,000 in property damage. Significantly, none of these hazards produced any injuries or fatalities. The only crop damage incurred was $250,000 attributed to flooding on August 28.

Risks and Vulnerability Factors

The Social Vulnerability Index is a valuable way to quantify a region's level of preparedness for environmental disasters. This index takes into account a host of environmental concerns that are particular to a certain region, and helps to determine how ready such a region (or county) is to handle the ramifications of those disasters. As such, this information is valuable to insurance companies in determining rates and the degree of risk involved in doing so. Additionally, it helps government officials in those counties know approximately how much funds and other resources they need to dedicate to counteracting any noxious effects of environmental disasters. Moreover, there is a comparative aspect of the Social Vulnerability Index, since it allows counties to view their level of preparation in conjunction with those of surrounding counties. In such a way, can insurance and governmental officials also compare their resource allocation and rates.

The Social Vulnerability Index for Tennessee's Shelby County from 2006-2010 was -2.588143, while the national percentile from those years was 14.41%. The Social Vulnerability Index for Vermont's Orleans County from this same time period was 0.200921; the national percentile during this time was 54.92%.

References

Hazards & Vulnerability Research Institute (2012). "The Spatial Hazard Events and Losses Database for the United States, Version 10.0 [Online Database]." Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina. Retrieved from http://www.sheldus.org

Hazards & Vulnerability Research Institute. (2012). "Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI®) for the United States - 2006-10 Data." Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina. Retrieved from http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/products/sovi.aspx