Assessing Hazards
Use the National Risk Index. mapping site to compare and contrast the following for two urbanized counties:
Overall Risk Hazard
Overall Expected Annual Losses
Social Vulnerability and Community Resilience
Familiarize yourself with the tool by completing the Module 4 Exercise. The base data for the risk index incorporates risk associated with 18 different hazards to include the number of events, annual frequency, the exposure value of the population, buildings, and agriculture, the historic loss ratio of population, buildings, and agriculture, annual expected loss of population, buildings, and agriculture, loss scores and ratings, and individual hazard risk score and rating. There are toggles on the map to change from county to census tracts views and you can show Risk Index, Expected Annual Loss, Social Vulnerability, and Community Resilience layers using the dropdown boxes. Go to the Legend subtab to see the coloration scheme for each layer. You can also click on a county on the map and which will open an Info panel to get see its attribute details.
Query the dataset to retrieve data for the urbanized counties for analysis. A query is the set of questions or filters applied to a dataset to select only certain information. Click on Create Report, then Compare Multiple Communities. Here you can select counties on the map or draw a rectangle on the map to include all counties that are within an area. Once you have selected multiple counties click Create Comparison Report. Here you can view the data in graphics & tables on screen or click Download Data to get the raw data in a csv file (for Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers) – the method you chose doesn’t matter for the submission.
Evaluate (compare & contrast) the data as evidence to reach a conclusion about the comparable hazards and risk of each county. What might explain the similarities and differences? How does urbanization and/or population density effect the results? Consider the elements or variables used to determine probabilities. Analysis may require use of additional sources or information such as population, level of urbanization, or regional data. You do not need to analyze all the data in the file – focus only on the relevant data points. Create a data visualization (i.e. chart or table) that will be used (properly inserted and cited) in your submission.
Your work should apply the concepts of risks and hazards broadly as well quantitatively analyze the data specifically for the selected counties to reach a conclusion about the contributing factors to risk in these areas.
