Comparing Differences of Community Resilience and Rurality in the USA for Counties Prone to Riverine Flooding

This paper explores the variations in community resilience factors between rural and urban counties across the US, focusing on regions at relatively high risk of riverine flooding. Leveraging data from the FEMA National Risk Index, US Census Bureau, and BRIC Community Resilience Index, the study explores the relationship between community resilience and the degree of rurality. The analysis identifies statistically significant differences between urban and rural counties and identifies the extent of Spearman's correlation between each factor and percent rural. Rural counties facing elevated riverine flood risks exhibit comparatively lower community resilience in social, economic, and infrastructure/housing. Conversely, urban counties have a lower resilience in community and environmental aspects. These are more pronounced than seen nationally; while the directions of the trends nationally are similar, the correlations differ in magnitude. Notably, these higher-risk rural counties have a greater need for infrastructure/housing resilience (ρih = –0.78) and have a greater level of community and environmental resilience than their higher-risk urban counterparts (ρc = 0.47; ρe = 0.52) as compared generally in the US (ρih = –0.49; ρc = 0.30; ρe = 0.34). This study contributes to resilience literature by identifying aspects of community resilience within high-risk riverine flood-prone areas that are unique compared with the general urban/rural dynamics in the US.