Community planning around natural hazards like hurricanes often centers on alerts, first responders and the immediate cleanup afterward. However, policymakers are beginning to instead focus on what can be done in advance to make their community more resilient to larger and more frequent hazards due to climate change. That includes adaptation and mitigation activities such as retrofitting infrastructure and hardening defenses around key assets like hospitals long before storms arrive.

That switch to a more holistic approach across the full life of a hazard is something Professor John W. van de Lindt has been working to support for years through the Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning. Van de Lindt is the principal investigator and co-director of the center at Colorado State University, which brings together interdisciplinary researchers to study resiliency questions around hurricanes and other hazards. He said prioritizing resiliency involves not just assessing possible risks but also thinking about the value of proactive measures – especially how they may speed the return to normal life after a hazard.