After Hurricane Harvey, the stakes were high for the City of Houston in correctly accounting for the full costs of the storm on the city’s housing. Between 2015 and Harvey in August 2017, Houston experienced five federally-declared flooding disasters, meaning that many Houstonians had yet to recover from previous storms when Harvey struck. The federal disaster recovery framework is based on a calculation of “unmet need” for housing and other factors. However, traditional methods of calculating this need are based on outdated metrics that exclude anyone who didn’t apply for, or receive, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance after the storm. If Houston’s unmet need was chronically undercounted, then its recovery was also being chronically under-resourced.
At Civis, we take a science-first approach to solving business problems using person-level data. With a blend of proprietary technology and statistical advisory services, we help public and private sector organizations find, understand, and connect with the people they care about, so they can stop guessing and start using statistical proof to guide decisions. We know others use “data science” and “analytics” as buzzwords, but at Civis we don’t stand for fluff, and we will always deliver scalable products and technologies — not PowerPoints — to drive your business forward.
