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Headwaters Economics

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Natural Hazards

Wildfires, floods, and other climate-related disasters are becoming more extensive and costly as the climate changes. Our research helps communities understand where people may be vulnerable, and how strategies such as land use planning can help reduce risk.

Featured Research

Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants

Places with lower capacity are failing to get funding through FEMA’s flagship grant program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC).

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WILDFIRE RESEARCH

Learn more about our wildfire research

Construction Costs for a Wildfire-Resistant Home: California Edition

In light of rising wildfire risks, we analyzed the costs of constructing homes to three levels of wildfire resistance in California.

Wood roofs are a $6 billion wildfire problem

At least 1.2 million wood roofs are in areas with wildfire risk. Funding is needed to help communities prepare for wildfire.

Mobile home residents face higher flood risk

Mobile homes are the most common unsubsidized, affordable housing in the United States but have disproportionately higher flood risk than other housing types.

Aerial view of neighborhood destroyed by wildfire.

The unequal impacts of wildfire

See where wildfire risk intersects social and economic factors that can make it difficult for people to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfire.

Improving benefit-cost analyses for rural areas

Benefit-cost analysis, required for many federal funding sources, puts smaller, rural, and low-income communities at a disadvantage.

Wildfires destroy thousands of structures each year

Explore the number of structures destroyed in each state by wildfire. Structures lost—rather than acres burned—provides a more complete measure of the broad impacts of wildfire.

Bridge at South Manhattan Ave

Mountain, Midwest, and Gulf States Fail to Secure FEMA Resilience Funding

Rural and lower capacity communities failed to successfully compete for FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding in FY 2020.

Building a Wildfire-Resistant Home: Codes and Costs

A new home built to wildfire-resistant codes can be constructed for roughly the same cost as a typical home.

Full Community Costs of Wildfire

Almost half of the full community costs of wildfire are paid for at the local level, including homeowners, businesses, and government agencies.

Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire

Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) works with communities to reduce wildfire risk through improved land use planning. The program is a program of Headwaters Economics, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service.

Learn about CPAW communities

Recent Natural Hazards Research

Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants

Places with lower capacity are failing to get funding through FEMA’s flagship grant program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC).

Construction Costs for a Wildfire-Resistant Home: California Edition

In light of rising wildfire risks, we analyzed the costs of constructing homes to three levels of wildfire resistance in California.

Wood roofs are a $6 billion wildfire problem

At least 1.2 million wood roofs are in areas with wildfire risk. Funding is needed to help communities prepare for wildfire.

Local revenue to fund long-term infrastructure costs

Communities need resilient revenue strategies to fund the long-term costs of capital improvements and infrastructure.

Mobile home residents face higher flood risk

Mobile homes are the most common unsubsidized, affordable housing in the United States but have disproportionately higher flood risk than other housing types.

Improving benefit-cost analyses for rural areas

Benefit-cost analysis, required for many federal funding sources, puts smaller, rural, and low-income communities at a disadvantage.

Aerial view of neighborhood destroyed by wildfire.

The unequal impacts of wildfire

See where wildfire risk intersects social and economic factors that can make it difficult for people to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfire.

Bridge at South Manhattan Ave

Mountain, Midwest, and Gulf States Fail to Secure FEMA Resilience Funding

Rural and lower capacity communities failed to successfully compete for FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding in FY 2020.

Living with wildfire

Watch “Living with wildfire.” Wildfires are an inescapable and necessary function of healthy ecosystems. In the past decade they have increased in severity and duration, killed more people, and burned more structures.

Flooding in Austin, Minnesota. Photo: Tim Ruzek

How state and local budgets are vulnerable to climate change

Climate change has the potential to destabilize general operating budgets and constrain access to lending markets. These presentations share promising solutions for “climate-proofing” budgets.

See all research under Natural Hazards

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