Given its geographic location and climatological conditions, Puerto

Rico is highly susceptible to natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes, floods,

tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes). Coastal or riverine flood areas

and steep mountains characterize much of Puerto Rico. Hurricanes

San Ciriaco (1899), San Felipe (1928), San Ciprián (1932), Santa

Clara (1956), Hugo (1989), and Georges (1998) have had a significant

social and economic impact on the Island’s population and economy.

As a result of changing social and demographic patterns in Puerto

Rico, there has been a significant increase in population density, in

the proportion of the elderly and physically disabled population, and

an increasing concentration of residents in flood and/or landslide

prone areas, especially along the coastline. According to the

Insurance Commissioner’s Office, as of June 2003, 160,000 families

were living in flood prone areas in Puerto Rico, of which 43,568

(27.2%) did not have flood insurance. These factors have contributed

to the increasing vulnerability to natural hazards on the Island. The

primary goal of the proposed project is to understand how these and

other factors contribute to the vulnerability of the Puerto Rican

population living in coastal regions, how they have changed from

1990 to 2000, and how risk and vulnerability vary according to

different demographic, social, and economic characteristics. This

research project is a collaborative and interdisciplinary effort between

the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware,

the Center for Applied Social Research (CISA) and the Physical

Oceanography Laboratory in the Department of Marine Sciences,

both at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. To accomplish the

aforementioned goals, we propose to: 1) develop geographical maps

of the coastal areas of Puerto Rico that will include detailed

demographic and socioeconomic data of the resident population. GIS

technology and existing storm surge and tsunami flood maps will be

used as a starting point; 2) conduct a census of emergency

response agencies and other organizations and structures located in

areas subject to coastal flooding; 3) examine the determinants of

vulnerability in the coastal regions of Puerto Rico and, using 1990

and 2000 Census data, determine how vulnerability in these regions

has changed during a ten-year period.

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