Empirical Evidence on the Cost-Effectiveness of Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants

• In Event: Impacts of a First, and now Second, Trump Administration

Abstract

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants have been recognized as an effective way to reduce natural disaster losses. However, most mitigation studies evaluate the cost-effectiveness of such funding based on projected losses. This study empirically measures the extent to which grant funding reduced counties’ natural hazard induced deaths, injuries, and damages from 2005-2020 using the Spatial Hazard Events and Losses database and FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Projects database. The extent to which HMA grants reduce disaster deaths, injuries, and damages are modeled using three separate distributed lag models. Combining the output of the models and placing losses into economic terms indicates that the average HMA grant reduces disaster losses in excess of its cost over just a 15-year period.

Author

• Hina Chaudhry, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
  Presenting Author