A Hazard Vulnerability Climatology for the state of Ohio from 1985-2014

As the cost of damages from natural disasters increase, it is important for all emergency response personnel to further understand the climatology of hazards, in ten year intervals, observed in their respective areas. Knowing this information will be highly effective in responding and recovering from any disaster. In addition, this information will also be critical for local emergency planners and officials for coordinating and organizing efforts prior to a disaster occurring. The state of Ohio sees many types of hazards, but the three main hazards include: thunderstorms, tornadoes, and winter storms. The focus of this research was to examine the climatologies of the hazards the state of Ohio observes while also examining their frequencies spatially and temporally. Each hazard was classified by type as well as broken down into ten-year intervals beginning in 1985 and ending in 2014 (1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014). Data were retrieved from the National Centers for Environmental Information’s (NCEI) Storm Events Database. This analysis also included a spatial component where the occurrences of the hazards were analyzed for any trends that show a particular type of hazard occurring in certain areas and then displayed using geographical software. In addition, a temporal component was also included to determine whether, with time, if any or all hazard(s) have changed, in regards to their location and intensity. The results for this project are currently under analysis and review at this time.