The Relationship between Climate Vulnerability and Disaster Declarations: A Case Study of Flood-Prone Indigenous Communities in Alaska

Abstract

Using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, one-way ANOVA, and an environmental justice lens, we considered the social and physical vulnerability factors associated with climate change and flood-related disaster declarations for Alaska Native Villages (ANVs), which are indigenous communities. We found that, on average, compared with communities not involved in disaster declarations, communities with disaster declarations between 1977 and 2014 had lower elevation, more exposure to erosion, less precipitation in summer and fall, larger populations, less population growth, a higher percentage of youth, larger household size, a higher percentage of Alaska Natives, more population below the poverty level, and lower per capita income. This finding is positive, because it suggests that, collectively, communities with greater vulnerability are getting more disaster declarations, which come with disaster aid. However, some of the most vulnerable communities may not be getting all the help they need. In particular, southwestern communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers were statistically more likely to get disaster declarations than were ANVs that received attention in the media and the literature for their vulnerability.