In 2015, SCDES OCRM, in partnership with the Governors' South Atlantic Alliance, promoted the use of a new spatial analysis tool that can be used by state and local coastal managers and scientists to improve comprehensive and hazard mitigation planning, post-disaster redevelopment, as well as determine areas best suited for restoration and mitigation efforts. The Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) tool evaluates coastal hazard vulnerability from four hazards: storm surge, shoreline change rate (erosion or accretion), flooding, and social/economic vulnerability (SoVI®). The final product is a vulnerability index on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the least risk, 5 being the most risk). In addition to this composite product, HVA also produces products for Inundation (surge + flooding), Inundation + SoVI®, and Shoreline Change (rate, plus temporal and spatial variations). Users can examine each hazard component to see what has the most impact in any given area and create files that can be integrated into GIS. The tool is stand-alone, open source and available free to all users.
