Risk Index Spatial Clustering (RISC): Identifying High Risk Counties Using Local Moran’s I and Spatial Statistics for Natural Disaster Risk Management : Leveraging Spatial Tools for Dynamic Risk Assessment, Resilience Planning And Resource Management Across Spatial Scales

Building sustainable communities requires the assessment and management of risk from natural disasters. This mitigation of risk requires coordination across administrative and geographic scales, from the national level to the state and county level. It is critical to understand the spatial structure of risk, and identify spatial patterns of high- and low-risk clusters, as well as outliers. Recent data released by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency allows for the identification and quantification of risk from natural hazards. Using Moran’s I, a spatial metric, I present a novel spatial analysis of the FEMA Risk Index Database in order to detect high-risk communities in need of remedial action to mitigate economic and population losses to natural disasters in the future.