Giving Compass' Take:

· Students from Duke University analyze the relationship between the Census and natural disasters and explain that good Census numbers are vital for recovery.

· How do natural disasters influence the Census? How can donors assist with recovery efforts?

· Read more about disaster relief and recovery.

With the impending threat of Hurricane Florence looming over the Carolinas, a group of graduate students at Duke University met with storms on their mind.

“The big picture is that natural disasters happen and the more that communities and states can do to prepare before a natural disaster happens, the better off they will be in terms of their population and infrastructure,” says group member Jennifer Hausman.

“That ties in with the Census… The more you prepare, the better you’ll be for your population to recover and for your government funding and government representation to recover as well, since that is tied to your population count,” Hausman says.

“The more I got to learn what the problem was and the huge impact and implications that natural disasters can have for funding, for political seats, and representation—especially for historically underrepresented minorities—I think it’s one of the most important issues that coming up for 2020,” says group member Kristen Jensen.

Hausman, Jensen, and classmates Janna Driskel and Mike Penansky conducted research as part of the final project for a class. The goal of the class was to learn how to conduct applied public policy analysis and produce a set of deliverables for a government or nonprofit client.

Read the full article about the Census and hurricane recovery at Futurity.