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.
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).
Read MoreLearn 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.
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.
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.
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