The U.S. Census Bureau today released a new data product, the experimental Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) for Heat.
Community resilience is the capacity of individuals and households within a community to absorb the external stresses of a disaster. While the standard Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) measures the social vulnerability that inhibits community resilience, the experimental CRE for Heat measures social vulnerability in the context of extreme heat exposure, allowing for new risk factors to account for exposure. You can find more details about the differences with standard CRE methodology in the quick guide.
In collaboration with Arizona State University’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience, the 2019 CRE for Heat are produced using information on individuals and households from the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey(ACS) and the Population Estimates Program (PEP).
Local planners, policymakers, public health officials and community stakeholders can use the estimates as one tool to help assess the potential resiliency of communities and plan mitigation and recovery strategies. The CRE uses small area modeling techniques and can be modified to a broad range of uses (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, economic recovery, etc.).