Hurricanes, Damned Hurricanes, and Statistics

• Activity Number: 125
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Social Statistics Section
• Author(s): Joseph Salvo*+ and David Bowman*+ and Christopher Emrich*+
• Companies: New York City Department of City Planning and State of Louisiana Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit and Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, University of South Carolina
• Keywords: emergency response ; disaster recovery ; statistical resources

Abstract

The panel will address how statistical programs deal with disasters (like Katrina + Sandy) and how data from various sources can both aid in assessments, response, and recovery and be negatively impacted unless special efforts are undertaken by survey collectors. The panel will discuss a number of the largest disasters since 2005. The topic is particularly timely given the massive destruction to the east coast caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Joe Salvo "Demonstrating the efficacy of statistics for disaster response: The case of Sandy in New York City" David Bowman "Utilizing Public Data for Post-Disaster Community Recovery: Louisiana Hurricanes" Chris Emrich "Identifying and Exploring Long-Term Recovery Trends for Coastal Mississippi: Spatial-Statistical Representations of Recovery along the Forgotten Coastline" Chair: Linda Jacobsen, Vice President, Domestic Programs, Population Reference Bureau Discussant: Allison Plyer, Director, Greater New Orleans Community Data Center