Who bears the burden? An assessment of vulnerability and resilience to consecutive disasters in the Portland metro region

This study examines exposure, vulnerability, and resilience across three consecutive extreme events in the Portland metro area: the September 2020 wildfire-related air pollution, the February 2021 snowstorm, and the June 2021 heatwave. We used geographically weighted regression and Spearman rank correlation analysis to investigate relationships between hazard impacts, the social vulnerability index (SoVI), Baseline Resilience Indicators for Communities (BRIC), and proximity to community-based organizations (CBOs) in 416 census tracts.

Our analysis reveals strong spatial correlations between wildfire-related air pollution, winter storm impacts, and extreme heat exposure. Communities already burdened by poor air quality, freezing precipitation, and urban heat island effects faced heightened cumulative risk. While this varied by neighborhood, racial minorities, migrant workers, non-US citizens, and low-income households were significantly affected.