Using the Census Bureau’s Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) data, which measure a community’s ability to weather a disaster, we compare Charleston County, South Carolina to the rest of the nation and find the county would likely have less difficulty responding to and recovering from a disaster than average.

Metropolitan areas often have varied levels of disaster resilience – and a review of Charleston County shows pockets of concern (Figure 1). CRE data help pinpoint these areas so officials can prepare for unique circumstances that may hinder resilience.

Anyone can use the CRE viewer to find out how communities in their area compare.

The CRE Viewer does more than illustrate disaster vulnerability. Using data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index (FEMA’s NRI), the tool provides information on communities most at risk to various natural hazards.

Currently, it puts the risk of earthquakes in Charleston at “Relatively High,” the second highest possible rating.

If an earthquake or other disaster occurs, communities can use the CRE Disaster Response Supplement, or “CRE for Response,” to quickly access relevant demographic, housing and socioeconomic data (Figure 2).

These data points can help governments develop “Disaster Impacted Population Profiles,” part of the FEMA Preliminary Damage Assessment, utilized to determine an area’s eligibility for disaster funding. 

When a disaster hits the residents of a place, it hits workers and businesses, too. The Census Bureau’s OnTheMap tool enables us to gather information about a community’s workers, both where they’re employed and where they live.

Using the tool, we find, for example, that Charleston County has 279,528 jobs, more than half (51.5%) filled by workers living outside the county (Figure 3). This is valuable information when seeking to understand the economic fallout of a potential earthquake.

This type of geographic information is key for disaster planning. For example, areas with many workers living in neighboring communities might prioritize rebuilding commuting infrastructure as part of their recovery efforts.

OnTheMap also offers other geographic details like city- and neighborhood-level data to help identify where recovery efforts will have the largest impact.

These are just some of the tools available to help communities prepare for and recover from disasters. Additional resources can be found on the Census Bureau’s Emergency Management Hub.

The hub includes data tools, America Counts articles, engaging visualizations and pages tailored to help users swiftly identify information related to key events.