Geospatial Comparison of National Social Vulnerability Indices in El Paso, Texas

Abstract

El Paso County, Texas is prone to many natural hazards that are intensifying due to anthropogenic changes. Population growth from migration to the United States and job opportunities, in turn, is causing an increase in vulnerable and at-risk populations. I ask, in this thesis, whether mitigation strategies aimed at physical infrastructure or those aimed at socioeconomic factors would be needed the most across census tracts in El Paso. To this end, three well-known indices of vulnerability (Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI), and National Risk Index (NRI)) were estimated for each census tract in El Paso County. In addition, the amount and rate of change in developed land between 2001 and 2019 were estimated based on National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and census data, respectively. Together with the trends in developed land, the estimated values of the three indices pointed to where planning measures and policies to mitigate against physical vulnerability versus social vulnerability should be prioritized across the county.