Climate and Community Resilience
Climate and community resilience refers to the capacity of communities to adapt, recover, and thrive in the face of climate-related challenges and disasters. It encompasses both physical infrastructure improvements—like flood barriers, drought-resistant agriculture, and renewable energy systems—and social adaptations such as emergency response networks, knowledge sharing, and inclusive decision-making processes.
Effective resilience building integrates scientific knowledge with local wisdom, addressing immediate climate threats while strengthening long-term community bonds. Communities with strong resilience demonstrate flexibility in their systems, diversity in their solutions, and equity in how resources and responsibilities are distributed. Rather than simply returning to pre-disaster conditions, resilient communities use disruptions as opportunities to transform into more sustainable, just, and prepared systems capable of withstanding future climate uncertainties.
Key Indicators
Climate Change Concern Over Time
Concern for climate change in Central Texas has been increasing over time. Individuals who identify as female, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino/a, and live in an urban area tend to be the most concerned. Participants who identify as Hispanic or Latino/a, Black or African American, or are lower-income are more likely to report being afraid, worried, or nervous about climate change. Find more about climate change perceptions in our data brief.
Hazard Exposure in Austin
Nearly all Austin residents surveyed report experiencing high temperatures. The graph above shows the percentage of surveyed Austin residents who report experiencing each hazard event. A majority also report experiencing winter storms, severe storms, and drought in the last five years. Nearly 1 in 4 residents report experiencing wildfires, followed by tornados, dust storms, and floods.
Travel during Extreme Weather Events
When asked how difficult it would be to travel during an extreme weather event, half of Austinites surveyed indicated it would be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ difficult to access medical care during an extreme weather event (graph above). Traveling to the doctor, ER, and childcare facilities were selected by the most participants.
Emergency Preparedness
The majority of Austin residents surveyed report being prepared for an emergency. 71% feel prepared for an emergency. 85% say they could evacuate their house in the event of an evacuation order, and 83% say they could get to a safe place during an emergency. Fewer have emergency resources, with 64% reporting savings that can be used in the event of an emergency and 62% having an emergency kit. However, there are disparities by household income levels. Significantly fewer households making less than $40,000 per year are prepared for emergencies compared to households making above $40,000.
Action Pathways
Participants were asked who they support to address environmental health threats and level of support for environmental health policies. The actors receiving the most support were university scientists (69% say they support or strongly support), health advocacy groups (68%), and nonprofit organizations (67%). The groups most trusted to make environmental health policy are university scientists (61% say they trust or strongly trust), community groups (50%), and nonprofit organizations (44%). Private industry and business received the least support (45%) and the least trust (15%).
Just over two-thirds of those surveyed support creating government programs that connect local agencies, community members, and scientists to improve local environmental conditions (68% support or strongly support). 66% support developing additional government-funded green spaces in lower-income communities.
Emission Reduction Actions
The graph above shows the percent of respondents who think each action is moderately or extremely important. When it comes to actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 83% say reduce, reuse, and recycle is the most important. Interestingly, some of the actions that have the biggest potential impact – reducing meat consumption and food waste, reducing the use of gas-powered vehicles, and reducing electricity use- are in the bottom half of the list.