UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE RESILIENCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: HOW A BROWARD COUNTY COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT HELPS TO COMPLETE THE PICTURE

Climate patterns over the past century served to amplify the frequency and intensity of environmental hazards, including flooding, wind and heat. While indicators like SoVi and BRIC begin to characterize how people and places fair against hazards, they can be limited in scope. Through the administration of household surveys, I investigate the usefulness of such indicators by examining the roles communication, infrastructure, institutional efforts, financial independence, knowledge, mobility and social capital play in producing resilience within the Estates of Fort Lauderdale Community in Dania Beach, FL. While results confirm BRIC’s Medium-High Resilience community classification, they push beyond Census data to pinpoint underlying resilience processes. Responses indicate community classification, they push beyond Census data to pinpoint underlying resilience processes. Responses indicate that place attachment and community connectedness encourage weather-related information sharing, limited experiences and skills impede weather preparedness and response actions, and weather preparedness and response experiences are associated with less evacuation than expected. Findings prove to be richer and more policy and program actionable.