The Conversation has written an article about a study analyzing how housing security played a role in national natural disaster preparedness. The study found 57 percent of the population were not prepared in the areas of food, water, emergency funds, and transportation in case of natural disaster. Taking housing into effect, insecure households, or those behind on their payments, were even less prepared for disaster even compared to socioeconomic peers.

The article applies these results to the rise in flash floods, noting low-income areas in flood zones, where there are more insecure households, are especially vulnerable. Furthermore, these neighborhoods can’t afford protective measures such as levees or stormwater systems, compounding impacts. Read more at The Conversation.