An Analysis on Pre-disaster Mitigation in FEMA, in the United States

: Alternatives and its Conditions for Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

Climate change and intensified disaster risks are a global agenda in the 21st century. Exploring climate change adaptation, managed retreat (buyout) and elevation of the housing would be reasonable options for policy makers, though it is unclear what are the prerequisites and variables for the decision making. This study focuses on the analysis of how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) distributed their funds, Hazard Mitigation Assistance, to mitigate disaster risks before disaster strikes. This study used OpenFEMA Data Sets as a quantitative analysis and QGIS for spatial analysis. The results implied that recurrence of disasters, intensity, and costs would be the potential variables for the decision making, and the buyouts contributed to natural environmental conservation.