Research Counts

Read about the latest Research Counts special collection, which features groundbreaking insights to identify and address the inequities at the root of uneven disaster exposure and impacts.

Historic African American cemeteries often exist in an active state of recovery long before disasters happen. Proactive documentation and preservation must be central to hazard mitigation planning for these vital cultural landscapes.

For many places in the United States, there is an imbalance between available water supply and human demand. Tools that help water managers and users to understand and correct this imbalance can help to build drought resilience for at-risk communities.

Falling space debris is an emerging threat that can affect communities worldwide. Yet this threat is largely a preparedness blind spot. There's a need for emergency managers to recognize resource gaps and opportunities for readying communities for the potential impacts of natural and human-made space hazards.

Rapid depletion of groundwater and gaps in data availability leave some communities without a voice in water management decisions. These inequities can be addressed using already available information.

As disasters intensify and the youth mental health crisis persists, maintaining access to public data is critical for tracking which young people are most at risk and in need of evidence-based interventions.

Incarcerated women face unique and severe mental and physical health challenges during extreme heat and other disasters. Lack of autonomy leads to increased risk and exacerbation of these challenges.

When public housing residents are excluded from the systems meant to protect them, disaster response becomes a site of inequity. Residents experiences point to an urgent need for structural change and clear opportunities for more accessible, equitable, and compassionate forms of preparedness and response.

After successive hurricanes in North Carolina, many expectant mothers went to emergency departments for mental healthcare. Yet mothers from predominantly Black communities sought this support less frequently. A new approach is needed to understand the layered barriers that influence Black mothers' experiences at the intersection of motherhood, mental health, structural racism, and disasters.

After a hurricane, recovery often unfolds unevenly across communities. Mobile homeowners and renters experience more protracted housing recovery trajectories, shaped by inequitable access to financial aid and resources for rebuilding.

When disaster strikes, official reports may document statistics about deaths, injuries, and the loss and the extent of the damage done. But poetry and other art forms can capture quieter truths about the emotional toll, cultural losses, moments of resilience, and or the uneven way people are impacted.

Policies that deny flood aid to residents who cannot afford to repair their homes have created a gap that predatory lenders have jumped to fill.

Arts-based activism—artivism—can connect those impacted by disasters with those who work with and study them. This humanizing approach can improve research outcomes and address social injustices.

Immigrants—especially women—face distinct challenges in disaster recovery. Learn more about the experiences of Mexican women in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.

U.S. emergency management has become largely defined through a security framework, which has stalled its development and identity as a distinct profession. The field has an opportunity to evolve by infusing a humanitarian ethos into the profession.

Despite recent efforts to expand Spanish-language weather information, many Spanish-speaking residents in Tampa Bay felt unprepared for Hurricane Milton. Effective weather risk communication must go beyond translation alone, to address the cultural context, prior experiences, and barriers that shape diverse people’s understanding and actions during extreme weather events.

The evolution of Japan’s public broadcast tsunami warnings in the years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami showcase the progress that has been made alerting and the steps that still need to be taken to reach multilingual audiences.

Incorporating equity into infrastructure planning can strengthen both the physical and social aspects of the systems people use daily, resulting in more resilient communities.

Rural, under-resourced communities across Texas are increasingly faced with complex flood hazards, but many lack the data and tools they need to prepare for weather extremes. Novel approaches to community engagement and providing technical assistance can help advance flood resilience.

Cross-sector partnerships and meaningful engagement with survivors are essential to the success of community-based organizations working for equitable and sustainable disaster recovery.

Partnerships between researchers and community-based organizations has generated foundational evidence that can challenge the systems that make incarcerated people more vulnerable to environmental hazards and disasters.

Climate vulnerability maps developed by the U.S. government are designed to identify places that will benefit most from federal investments in climate resilience. Yet high-need, low-capacity communities across the country are being left behind.

Resilience acquired from lived experience helped poor Black women in Lake Charles, Louisiana to navigate compounding disasters while remaining true to their spiritual, family, and community values.

The ways that people who are undocumented prepare for the threat of deportation is a study in resilience—with lessons for disaster readiness.

Older adults have a wealth of skills, talents, and knowledge that can be brought to bear in a disaster situation. Recognizing their resilience is good for them and good for the community.