Researchers from Arizona State University Provide Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Natural Hazards Research (If Mitigation Saves $6 Per Every $1 Spent, Then Why Are We Not Investing More? a Louisiana Perspective On a National …)

2020 JAN 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Ecology Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Natural Hazards Research. According to news reporting out of Phoenix, Arizona, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “This paper provides an accounting of where and when mitigation and recovery investments have occurred in Louisiana, thereby generating a mitigation investment portfolio for the state. An exploratory data analysis of FEMA OpenData sets, supplemented by data on disaster damage and recovery, was conducted to develop a portfolio of mitigation actions implemented in the State of Louisiana since 1989 and to calculate damage to mitigation and recovery to mitigation expenditure ratios.”

Financial support for this research came from FEMA through the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Arizona State University, “Not surprisingly, Louisiana relies heavily on funding from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which it largely spends on home elevations and acquisitions with limited utilization of other mitigation actions. Our analysis of Louisiana expenditures shows that, on average, residents suffer nearly $260 in direct disaster losses for every $1 invested in mitigation and the federal government spends $10 on recovery for every $1 invested in mitigation.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “At these levels, mitigation investments are ineffective and/or insufficient in stabilizing the state’s damage trajectory.”

For more information on this research see: If Mitigation Saves $6 Per Every $1 Spent, Then Why Are We Not Investing More? a Louisiana Perspective On a National Issue. Natural Hazards Review, 2020;21(1):. Natural Hazards Review can be contacted at: Asce-Amer Soc Civil Engineers, 1801 Alexander Bell Dr, Reston, VA 20191-4400, USA. (American Society of Civil Engineers - www.asce.org; Natural Hazards Review - http://ascelibrary.org/nho)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting M. Gall, Arizona State University, Ctr Emergency Management & Homeland Secur, College of Public Service & Community Solutions, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1061/%28ASCE%29NH.1527-6996.0000342. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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