Author(s):
Dr. Hyunjung Ji
Journal Title:
Disasters (November 28, 2019)
Abstract:
In the 20th century, disasters triggered by natural hazards have led to an accumulative economic loss of roughly seven trillion USD and have resulted in eight million deaths worldwide. Given the escalating risk of natural hazards for communities, scholars and practitioners are emphasizing the importance of disaster risk mitigation as a strategy for enhancing community resilience. However, little is known about the extent to which governments’ disaster risk reduction efforts have enhanced community resilience outcomes. We bridge this gap by examining the effects of the U.S. Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), which was designed to improve disaster resilience at the community level. We analyzed natural hazard loss data pertaining to the U.S. counties that received HMGP funds in the wake of presidentially‐declared disasters between 2010 and 2015. Findings suggest that counties that received HMGP funds were likely to experience less property damage from future natural hazards compared to other counties.