UrbanFootprint

02/20/2024

February

🌊 Earlier this month, parts of California faced an unprecedented onslaught of extreme precipitation. Two atmospheric rivers hit Southern California, causing widespread impacts throughout the region:

- 9.7 trillion gallons of water dropped
- 560+ mudslides altered landscapes and closed roads
- 1.4 million people lost power
- 4000+ Caltrans workers were deployed on the front lines
- 7+ million sandbags prepositioned as defense
- 7 counties declared a state of emergency

🌧️ Past vs. Present: See the dramatic contrast in precipitation between the average heaviest rainfall of the year (past 30 years) and the atmospheric rivers from earlier this month.

🔮Looking Ahead: Our climate models shed light on areas facing increased threats from future extreme precipitation. With the rise in the average annual 5-day maximum precipitation event, occurrences similar to this month's atmospheric rivers are expected to become more frequent.

These recent storms underscore the urgent need for climate action and preparedness. What downstream impacts do you need to measure?

01/26/2024

January

We're thrilled to unveil the latest in our Map of the Month series. 🗺️ This month, we're focusing on Jacksonville, one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.

Why Jacksonville? As we witness a trend of people moving into areas prone to extreme weather, we've taken a deeper dive into the hurricane risk that this booming city faces. We didn’t just look at the big picture; we zoomed down to the parcel level, combining our climate data, built environment characteristics, and community insights.

🏠Step 1: Remember Hurricane Irma? A whopping 68.79% of claims were residential. That's why we started our analysis by filtering down to residential areas, and visualizing the threat of category 3+ hurricane winds to homes.

🛠️ Step 2: In 2001, Florida responded to Hurricane Andrew by adopting one of the nation’s strictest building codes. But homes built before 2001? They're likely at a higher risk. We continue by filtering to show only these homes, and how their property value is distributed throughout the city.

👵🏽 Step 3: Our elderly, as well as those living below the poverty line are at heightened risk. We've pinpointed where high concentrations of these socially vulnerable populations are also living in homes that are also at higher-risk of hurricane winds.

💡 This isn't just data. It's actionable intelligence - crucial for insurers, financial guarantors, and anyone who needs to see the full picture of risk through a financial lens.

What are you most interested in when it comes to climate assessments? Comment below!

01/18/2024

🎉 Please join us in welcoming our new Technical Project Manager,
Hannah McNeill to UrbanFootprint! 👋 Welcome Hannah! We're excited to have you on the team.

01/17/2024

Winter storms bring more than just cold weather. For low-income households, they can mean choosing between food, medicine, and heating. It's time to prioritize and make sure assistance reaches those in need. https://hubs.ly/Q01Wzs8v0

Leverage socio-demographic insights and vulnerability data to assist at-risk communities during winter storms.

01/10/2024

How can we create an equitable future for all? How do we overcome barriers like income and race? How do we identify and address EV charging deserts? Click the link to explore these questions. https://hubs.ly/Q01WkRzr0

Managing equitable EV deployment is complex, but with the right data and insights, planners can make better decisions more quickly.

01/04/2024

🌳 Building climate resilience starts with understanding. Having a clear picture of potential hazards and their impacts is a good starting point for creating a robust climate resilience plan. 🤝 Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q01Wr6Kx0

What is climate resilience? Learn the definition, how to build climate resilience, and more.

01/03/2024

🌟🎉 Starting the New Year with a Bang! 🎉🌟

We're thrilled to announce that UrbanFootprint has been named to the GovTech 100 list for the FOURTH consecutive year by Government Technology!

Our commitment to driving data insights and innovation across the U.S. has never been stronger. This past year, our data science team rolled out proprietary climate models that connect risk exposure with community and built environment data, covering the entire nation.

We are proud to work with a wide variety of government agencies that leverage the breadth of our data insights and analysis capabilities, as well as leading finance, real estate, and energy companies that rely on UrbanFootprint to analyze risk and prioritize investments.

Thank you to our incredible team and partners who make this possible year after year!

As we step into this new year, expect more innovations aimed at enhancing your experience with UrbanFootprint. Here's to continuous improvement and impact at scale! 🌍💡

12/20/2023

🎉As we wrap up 2023, let's take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey we've had during the first year of our Map of the Month series! Each month, the UrbanFootprint team has been diving deep into various aspects of climate, community, and the built environment, using our powerful platform to reveal insightful data discoveries. Here's a quick recap of the topics we explored:

❄️ January: Warming Center Accessibility in Buffalo, NY
🚌 February: Transit Access to the Super Bowl
🔌 March: Public EV Charger Distribution in Columbus, OH
🛤️ April: Overlap of Major Rail Routes and Waterways in the U.S.
🏗️ May: Transit-Oriented Development to Address the Housing Crisis
📊 June: Economic Impacts of the Mountain Valley Pipeline
🌲 July: Tree Fall Risk to Power Lines in Atlanta, GA
🌡️ August: Hunger and Extreme Heat in Phoenix, AZ
🔥 September: Economic Impact of the Lahaina Wildfires
🌇 October: Extreme Heat Impact on U.S. Data Centers
🌊 November: Hidden Flood Risk in the U.S.
🌀 December: Billion-Dollar Climate and Weather Disasters

🔍 Each map brought a unique perspective and critical insights into challenges we face today. But we're curious - which map resonated with you the most? Let us know in the comments! 👇

For a more detailed look back at our Maps of the Month, check out our latest blog post: https://hubs.ly/Q02dsc130

Let's continue to understand the world through data and maps in 2024!

Each month, the UrbanFootprint team creates and shares a map featuring an interesting data discovery using our platform.

12/18/2023

December

2023 has seen a surge in billion-dollar climate and weather disasters, setting a new record at 25, surpassing the previous high of 22 in 2020. The average since 1980? Just 8. 📈

What does this mean for 2024 and beyond? This month, we take a look at the current and future risk of extreme heat, hurricanes, and severe storms, and how these risks correlate with domestic migration trends.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

🌎 Migration Trends - As extreme weather events become more frequent, domestic in-migration trends indicate the potential for an even greater surge in large-scale climate disasters. U.S. Census data shows a concerning pattern of people moving to high-risk areas for extreme weather. Even those escaping one type of climate risk often move to another type of risk zone.
:thermometer:

🌡️ Extreme Heat - 12.8% of the population is currently at risk of extreme heat. This is set to more than double to 30.5% by 2060.
:cyclone:

🌀 Hurricane Winds - Currently, 4.2% of property value is at risk nationwide, projected to increase by 50% to 6.3% by 2060. The population at risk climbs by 20%, from 4.3% to 5.1%.

⛈️ Severe Storms - The risk of precipitation from severe storms is expected to increase from affecting 5.7% of the population and 4.2% of the nationwide property value to 7.8% and 7.7%, respectively, representing a significant 36% and 83% increase by 2060.

Local governments, utilities, insurers, and businesses will all have to grapple with the shifting nature of community and economic risk associated with climate events. With comprehensive data on climate, community, and the build environment, decision makers can optimize investments and interventions.

12/15/2023

🌎 As AGU23 comes to a close, we'd like to express our gratitude for the opportunity to participate in such a remarkable event. Our three sessions on earthquake, wind, and coastal flood risk were met with enthusiasm and engagement, and we'd like to thank everyone that attended.

Missed our presentations? No worries! You can catch up on our cutting-edge climate models and methodologies on our dedicated page. Explore the future of climate risk assessment and stay ahead of the curve in climate analysis and decision making.

👉 https://hubs.ly/Q02dcNmk0

The data models developed by UrbanFootprint leverage trusted US government sources and authoritative private data providers to build peer-reviewed models and datasets built for actionable, real-world analysis and decision making.

12/13/2023

💨 Don’t miss our final session at , as Rene Sorina presents our new, groundbreaking wind risk models!

Wind-related damages from hurricanes, continental winds, and tornadoes amount to billions annually. With climate change, these costs are rising, making it vital to better understand wind risk to protect property and livelihood. 🌪️

But there's a problem - there's no publicly available dataset summarizing high wind risk due to these events, and existing datasets are often inaccessible or qualitative.

🌀 Our Approach:

Our models estimate wind speed exceedance for all three hazards - tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and continental winds. We combine them into a nationwide wind risk map, providing invaluable insights for planners, insurers, and government agencies.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

🗺️ A new, comprehensive wind risk map.
📊 Intersected with UrbanFootprint's Base Canvas for parcel-level wind exposure data.
🏡 Understand risk to populations, households, and property values.

If you're at AGU23, be sure to stop by and connect with Rene! This is a game-changer for managing wind risk. Or, reach out in the comments for more info!

https://hubs.ly/Q02d0QwH0

12/12/2023

🚀Join us on Thursday at AGU23 to see Madeline Jones present UrbanFootprint’s Enhanced Earthquake Hazard Model!

Understanding earthquake hazard on a national scale is critical for businesses, governments, and institutions to be able to proactively manage risks, protect assets, and ensure sustainable development amidst evolving environmental challenges.

📊 The Challenge:
The USGS offers 8 soil-specific earthquake hazard maps, but lacks a consistent nationwide dataset. This forces national-scale analysis to rely on a single map/soil type, potentially compromising accuracy.

🌐 The Solution:
This custom data product combines the USGS data with a CONUS-wide machine learning-derived Vs30 dataset.

🔑 What sets it apart?

🌎 Nationwide coverage - no longer assuming a single site class for all of CONUS
🔬Unprecedented accuracy - no more underreporting earthquake risk
💡Understanding impacts - intersect with parcel-level data for a clear picture of what and who is at risk.

Don't miss this opportunity to stay ahead in earthquake hazard assessment, and better safeguard your assets. Join us at AGU23 or comment 👇 to learn more!