Simple Planning Tool for Climate Hazards in Oklahoma and Arkansas

The Simple Planning Tool (SPT) for Climate Hazards was developed in collaboration with emergency managers (EMs) and city planners across Oklahoma and Arkansas. Displayed in the form of a document, the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) created a version of the tool for each state. The SPT is a compilation of relatively easy-to-use online interactive tools, maps, and graphs that can assist EMs and planners who are assessing their historical and future long-term climate risks. The document is alphabetically organized by climate hazard and non-climate hazard (when applicable). For each hazard, a table contains easy-to-understand summaries of data limitations, historical climatology tools including the information that can be obtained and instructions on how to do so, and the state-of-the-science of projected trends, if known. The tool also contains four appendices: Hazard Definitions and Descriptions, Historical FEMA/Presidential Disaster Declarations, Climate Change Resources, and Incentive and Action Programs for Hazard Risk Reduction. The SPT is available at http://www.southernclimate.org/pages/data-tools.

The tool is primarily designed for EMs and planners who serve small- to medium-sized communities but may also be of interest to those who serve larger areas. While it may not provide every answer one has about hazard climatologies and future trends, the SPT aims to cut through the internet clutter and point users to relatively simple climate data tools that can be used during planning processes and in plans. Future renditions of the tool are planned for other states in the SCIPP region pending the results of a planned evaluation.