This study assessed the different kinds of food and pharmacy retail businesses that are at flood risk for all storm surge scenarios.

This project presents the usefulness of mapping and integrating data layers to understand areas of opportunity. The results will show mapping of accessible healthy food options in the region and where areas need such options.  

Using geospatial software, this project provides spatial locations of all the food retailers classified as providing healthy food (such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fresh dairy etc) or affordable meals and pharmacies, in the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council jurisdiction.

The locations are mapped and compared to specific social vulnerability variables provided by the CDC SVI. Having regional data of all the food and pharmacy retailers will help fill data gaps and start answering food accessibility research questions.

This project also integrates retailer properties with flood scenarios, to see food and pharmacy systems that are at risk of being interrupted by different categories of storms. This project collects an inventory of retailers and identify potential vulnerabilities in communities before disasters hit and after they do.

SVI census tract layers are integrated to get estimates of persons who within certain vulnerabilities, and their proximity to retailers at storm surge risk. Four Social Vulnerability Index layers were integrated to assess vulnerabilities and their proximity to retailers at storm surge risk within the 7 counties studied. The four SVI layers analyzed include:

·       Percentage minority (all persons except white, non-Hispanic) estimate, 2014-2018 ACS

·       Percentage of persons below poverty estimate

·       Percentage of persons aged 65 and older estimate, 2014- 2018 ACS

·       Percentage of households with no vehicle available estimate