Study Analyzes the Relationship of Power Outages to Social Vulnerability in Gulf Coast

In a study recently published in the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications journal, Dr. Smitha Rao and fellow researchers unveil the impacts of extreme weather and power outages on socially vulnerable demographics.

The team’s methodology combines power outage, disaster, and social vulnerability information (2017–22) at the county level in one of the most disaster-prone regions of the United States, the Gulf Coast.

Their findings reveal that the counties in this region most susceptible to longer-term outages were those with vulnerable populations affected by socioeconomic factors. Additionally, Rao’s team utilized their data to estimate the 10 most and least vulnerable counties.

“Communities that are already struggling when a disaster strikes and then endure a long power outage – that can compound their problems,” said Rao, “We see this study as a conversation starter, a way to begin prioritizing which communities may need the most help both modernizing their electrical grid and recovering power after disasters.”

Read here.