2024 SAG Award Winners

Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Project Goal

In December 2022, Congress passed, and the President signed into law the Community Disaster Resilience Zone Act. Under thIS law, FEMA is required to maintain a natural hazard risk assessment tool and use the tool to designate Community Disaster Roseline Zones. These zones aim to identify census tracts across the United States that are most at risk to natural hazards and most in need. These are areas that may benefit most from resilient actions were announced by FEMA on September 6, 2023.

Using the National Risk Index datasets, FEMA has identified the most at-risk and in-need communities to create resilience zones. These designated zones will provide geographic focus for financial and technical assistance from public, private, and philanthropic agencies and organizations for the planning and implementation of resilience projects.
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Business Problem Solved

FEMA is required to identify census tracts across the United States that have a very high risk for natural hazards and are most in need. The Community Disaster Resilience Zone Act requires FEMA to leverage the information provided by the National Risk Index, which establishes baseline natural hazard risk though annualized losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience for 18 different natural hazards and the White House Council on Environment Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. FEMA used these tools to identify the top 50 nationally and the top 1% by each state, most at risk and most in need census tracts.

Technology Implemented

Multiple Esri products are used in the development of the National Risk Index and the identification and communication of Community Disaster Resilience Zones. FEMA uses ArcGIS for Desktop, ArcGIS Pro, and Hazus (FEMA software built on ArcGIS for Desktop) for the generation of the National Risk Index and identification of Community Disaster Resilience Zones. ArcGIS Online to serve GIS data and to support users in understanding locations of zones. The CDRZ Platform, built in AGOL Experience Builder, allows for users to exposure data and being to identification risk reduction and resilience building activities across their community. FEMA also developed infographics though the Business Analyst AGOL product to support outreach for each zone.

Development Team Biography

Casey Zuzak, GISP serves as the technical data lead for the Community Disaster Resilience Zone designations and lead for FEMA’s National Risk Index. Annie Sheehan Patrick McGuire, Jesse Rozelle, Trevor Latimer, Monica Imbrenda, Jeanine Peterson, Stephen Carruth, and Pam Williams all played critical roles in the development of the Community Disaster Resilience Zones initiative.