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| Hurricane Risk Map for the Northern and Western
U.S. Gulf Coast. (A hurricane is a cyclone that occurs in the
North Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific.)
Click the image above to download
the full-size map (PDF 5.1MB)
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The Natural Disaster Hotspots report
released earlier this year showed that the U.S. Gulf Coast is among
the world's most at-risk regions in terms of human mortality and
economic loss due to storms like Katrina and Rita.
The study, which
was produced by researchers from the Center
for Hazards and Risk Research, The
International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI),
the Center
for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN),
the Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory and the World
Bank, estimated risk levels by
combining hazard exposure with historical vulnerability for two
indicators of elements at risk—gridded population and Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) per unit area—for six major natural
hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought and
cyclones (which are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic
and Eastern North Pacific).
By calculating relative risks for each
grid cell rather than for countries as a whole, the study was able
to estimate risk levels at sub-national scales. Such information
can help inform a range of disaster prevention and preparedness
measures, including prioritization of resources, targeting of more
localized and detailed risk assessments, implementation of risk-based
disaster management and emergency response strategies, and development
of long-term land-use plans and multihazard risk management strategies.
Download the cyclone risk
map for the northern and western U.S. Gulf Coast. (PDF 5.1MB)
For more information about Natural Disaster Hotspots:
Hotspots
Reseach at the Center for Hazards and Risk Research
For more maps created by the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center
(SEDAC) at CIESIN regarding the regions struck by Katrina and Rita:
Gulf
Coast Hurricane Maps from SEDAC
For more information about the Earth Institute affiliates involved in producing Natural
Disaster Hotspots:
Center for Hazards and Risk Research (CHRR)
International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI)
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)
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