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Sustainable Resilience Planning for Natural Hazard Events
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Sustainable Resilience Planning for Natural Hazard Events

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 12736

Special Issue Editor

Dr. James Kevin Summers

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Measurements and Modeling, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561, USA
Interests: ecology; environmental health; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The concept of resilience has been evolving over the past decade as a way to address the current and future challenges nations, states, and cities face from a changing climate. Understanding how the environment (natural and built), climate event risk, societal interactions, and governance reflect community resilience for adaptive management is critical for envisioning urban and natural environments that can persist through extreme weather events and longer-term shifts in climate. To be successful, this interaction of these five domains must result in maintaining quality of life and ensuring equal access to the benefits or the protection from harm for all segments of the population. Exhaustive literature reviews of climate resilience approaches have been conducted examining the two primary elements of resilience—vulnerability and recoverability. The results of these reviews addressed many existing frameworks integrating the above five major areas of resilience. While some aspects of a resilience model are available for existing sources, no comprehensive approaches are available. This Special Issue will address conceptual models for resilience to climate events that incorporate some available structures, and addresses these five domains at a national, regional, state, and county spatial scale for a variety of climate-induced events ranging from superstorms to droughts and their concomitant events such as wildfires, floods, and pest invasions. These conceptualizations should be developed in a manner that will permit comparisons among governance units (e.g., counties) and permit an examination of best reliance practices.

Natural disasters often impose significant and long-lasting stress on financial, social, and ecological systems. From Atlantic hurricanes to Midwest tornadoes to Western wildfires, no corner of the United States is immune from the threat of a devastating natural hazard event. Across the nation, there is a recognition that the benefits of creating environments resilient to adverse natural hazard events help promote and sustain county and community success over time. The challenge for communities is in finding ways to balance the need to preserve the socioecological systems on which they depend in the face of constantly changing natural hazard threats. This Special Issue is designed as an endpoint for characterizing national/state/county/community resilience outcomes that are based on risk profiles and responsive to changes in governance, societal, built, and natural system characteristics. By evaluating the factors that influence vulnerability and recoverability, an estimation of resilience can quantify how changes in these characteristics will impact resilience given specific hazard profiles. Ultimately, this knowledge will help communities identify potential areas to target for increasing resilience to natural hazard events.

Dr. James Kevin Summers
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • resilience
  • natural hazards
  • climate adaptation
  • flooding
  • hurricanes
  • tornadoes

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 8586 KiB  
Article
Using Existing Indicators to Bridge the Exposure Data Gap: A Novel Natural Hazard Assessment
by Adam K. Williams, James K. Summers and Linda C. Harwell
Sustainability 2024, 16(23), 10778; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310778 - 9 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1052
Abstract
Extreme natural hazard events are increasing across the globe, compelling increased climate research on resiliency. Research concerning issues as integrative as climate change and natural hazard resiliency often requires complex methodologies to account for cumulative influences. Indicators can be used to parse complex [...] Read more.
Extreme natural hazard events are increasing across the globe, compelling increased climate research on resiliency. Research concerning issues as integrative as climate change and natural hazard resiliency often requires complex methodologies to account for cumulative influences. Indicators can be used to parse complex data to assess the intersection of inputs and outcomes (i.e., cumulative impacts). The Climate Resilience Screening Index (CRSI) is a good example of an indicator framework as it integrates indicators and their associated metrics into five domains (e.g., natural environment, society, and risk), enabling the index to accommodate a variety of inputs in its assessment of resilience. Indicator research, however, is generally limited by the availability of pertinent data. Natural hazard data concerning exposure, loss, and risk are routinely collected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create and update the National Risk Index (NRI), a composite index. The NRI can be disaggregated to obtain individual underlying metrics about natural hazard exposure. Quantifying natural hazard exposure requires extensive computation, with each hazard type requiring multiple modifying considerations, such as meteorological adjustments made by subject matter experts. Commonly available natural hazard exposure data, like that from FEMA, combines the spatial extent of historical natural hazard events and the determined value of the affected area. Exposure-related data were retrieved from the National Risk Index and used to create a new composite value to represent only the spatial extent of natural hazard events. Utilizing this new methodology to represent natural hazard exposure alleviates the burden of complex computation. It allows exposure data to be more expeditiously integrated into research and indices relating to natural hazards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resilience Planning for Natural Hazard Events)
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26 pages, 9136 KiB  
Article
Morphometric and Soil Erosion Characterization Based on Geospatial Analysis and Drainage Basin Prioritization of the Rabigh Area Along the Eastern Red Sea Coastal Plain, Saudi Arabia
by Bashar Bashir and Abdullah Alsalman
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 9008; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209008 - 17 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1747
Abstract
Soil erosion is one of the most significant problems in global environmental development. Assigning, analyzing, and quantifying the main physical characteristics of drainage basins are powerful keys in identifying regions where there is a higher risk of soil erosion and where prompt mitigation [...] Read more.
Soil erosion is one of the most significant problems in global environmental development. Assigning, analyzing, and quantifying the main physical characteristics of drainage basins are powerful keys in identifying regions where there is a higher risk of soil erosion and where prompt mitigation actions are needed. Drainage basins and their drainage systems are ideally defined using the analysis morphometric parameters and their quantitative description. The present study aims to analyze morphometric parameters to prioritize drainage basins that are prone to erosion. Topographic sheets and remotely sensed digital elevation model (DEM) datasets have been prepared and analyzed using geospatial techniques to delineate drainage basins of different sizes and extract different ordered drainage systems. Based on the analysis of morphometric parameters, the Rabigh area was divided into 12 drainage basins, which significantly contribute to determining soil erosion priority levels. The present study selected and applied the most effective morphometric parameters to rank and prioritize the drainage basins of the study area after considering the crucial quantitative characteristics, such as linear, relief, and areal aspects. For each single basin, the compound factor was assigned from several morphometric parameters and applied to rank the Rabigh area. The results confirm that Basins 1, 4, 11, and 12 require a high level of soil erosion priority over an area of 2107 km2; however, Basins 3, 8, 9, and 10 have little degradation and a low level of soil erosion priority. Therefore, in the regions where high soil erosion is a factor, mitigation techniques such as terracing, filter strips, contouring, and other effective and useful structural and non-structural methods should be applied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resilience Planning for Natural Hazard Events)
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21 pages, 6160 KiB  
Article
Challenges of Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in Managing Flash Floods in Shah Alam, Malaysia
by Adam Narashman Leeonis, Minhaz Farid Ahmed, Mazlin Bin Mokhtar, Chen Kim Lim and Bijay Halder
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7528; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177528 - 30 Aug 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5800
Abstract
A geographic information system (GIS) is a tool and technology capable of addressing the effects and challenges of natural disasters, particularly flash floods. GIS applications are used to generate flood risk maps to tackle flood issues. However, various challenges and problems arise when [...] Read more.
A geographic information system (GIS) is a tool and technology capable of addressing the effects and challenges of natural disasters, particularly flash floods. GIS applications are used to generate flood risk maps to tackle flood issues. However, various challenges and problems arise when employing GIS to manage flash flood disasters in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Hence, this study aims to identify these challenges and gaps in GIS utilisation by Malaysian agencies for flash flood management in Shah Alam. Using the quadruple helix model technique, informal interviews were conducted as part of the study’s qualitative methodology. Five respondents were chosen from each of the four main sectors for primary data collection: government, academia, business, and community/NGO. The data were analysed using Taguette qualitative theme analysis. The findings reveal that the primary challenges lie in government management, particularly in providing equipment and access to GIS for all stakeholders, including the public. This challenge is attributed to the high costs and complexity associated with GIS data usage, limiting accessibility. Furthermore, there is a lack of expertise and research on GIS in Malaysian universities concerning flash flood management. The government should take proactive steps to improve flash flood management in Shah Alam, Malaysia, in order to solve these issues. Specifically, GIS training should be given to stakeholders, particularly those in the government and academic sectors, in order to develop GIS specialists who will be necessary for efficient flood management in Malaysia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resilience Planning for Natural Hazard Events)
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27 pages, 56607 KiB  
Article
Assessing Tornado Impacts in the State of Kentucky with a Focus on Demographics and Roadways Using a GIS-Based Approach
by Mehmet Burak Kaya, Onur Alisan, Alican Karaer and Eren Erman Ozguven
Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1180; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031180 - 31 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3268
Abstract
Although the literature provides valuable insight into tornado vulnerability and resilience, there are still research gaps in assessing tornadoes’ impact on communities and transportation infrastructure, especially in the wake of the rapidly changing frequency and strength of tornadoes due to climate change. In [...] Read more.
Although the literature provides valuable insight into tornado vulnerability and resilience, there are still research gaps in assessing tornadoes’ impact on communities and transportation infrastructure, especially in the wake of the rapidly changing frequency and strength of tornadoes due to climate change. In this study, we first investigated the relationship between tornado exposure and demographic-, socioeconomic-, and transportation-related factors in our study area, the state of Kentucky. Tornado exposures for each U.S. census block group (CBG) were calculated by utilizing spatial analysis methods such as kernel density estimation and zonal statistics. Tornadoes between 1950 and 2022 were utilized to calculate tornado density values as a surrogate variable for tornado exposure. Since tornado density varies over space, a multiscale geographically weighted regression model was employed to consider spatial heterogeneity over the study region rather than using global regression such as ordinary least squares (OLS). The findings indicated that tornado density varied over the study area. The southwest portion of Kentucky and Jefferson County, which has low residential density, showed high levels of tornado exposure. In addition, relationships between the selected factors and tornado exposure also changed over space. For example, transportation costs as a percentage of income for the regional typical household was found to be strongly associated with tornado exposure in southwest Kentucky, whereas areas close to Jefferson County indicated an opposite association. The second part of this study involves the quantification of the tornado impact on roadways by using two different methods, and results were mapped. Although in both methods the same regions were found to be impacted, the second method highlighted the central CBGs rather than the peripheries. Information gathered by such an investigation can assist authorities in identifying vulnerable regions from both transportation network and community perspectives. From tornado debris handling to community preparedness, this type of work has the potential to inform sustainability-focused plans and policies in the state of Kentucky. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resilience Planning for Natural Hazard Events)
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