Social vulnerability is “the characteristics of a person or group in terms of their ability to anticipate, cope, resist and recover from the impact of a natural risk. It involves a combination of factors that determine the extent to which a person's life and livelihood are endangered by a discrete, identifiable event in nature or society (Zurich, 2010). The difference between social and physical vulnerability is physiological and psychological. People's physical vulnerability refers to their susceptibility to biological changes (i.e., impacts on anatomical structures and physiological functioning), while their social vulnerability refers to their susceptibility to changes in behavior (Lindell, Prater and Perry, 2006). Three demographic characteristics that play a role in social vulnerability are gender, age and ethnicity. One of the most controversial topics still in the United States, aside from race, is gender. In most cases, women's standards are still much lower than men's, even after centuries of progress. It also plays an important role in social vulnerabilities. The best example of this is the role of women outside the corporate world. Women are also more vulnerable to disasters because of their roles as mothers and caregivers: when disaster is about to strike, their ability to seek safety is limited by their responsibilities to the very young and very old, both of whom need help and supervision. (Rygel et al., 2006). Women are also more likely than men because single mothers, whether divorced, widowed or never married, live a more poverty-based lifestyle due to their responsibilities for their children and therefore have a harder time to recover from a disaster... middle of article......ps://www.academia.edu/1606768/Factsheet_Social_Vulnerability_to_Disasters.Flanagan, BE, Gregory, EW, Hallisey, EJ, Heitgerd, JL, & Lewis, B. (2011). A social vulnerability index for disaster management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 8(1), 3-6. http://svi.cdc.gov/Documents/Data/A%20Social%20Vulnerability%20Index%20for%20Disaster%20Management.pdf. Perry, RW, Prater, CS, & Lindell, MK (2006). Fundamentals of emergency management. Retrieved from http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/fem.asp.Rygel, L., O'Sullivan, D., & Yarnal, B. (2006). A method for constructing a social vulnerability index: an application to storm surges caused by hurricanes in a developed country. Strategies for mitigation and adaptation to global change. 11, 741-764. DOI: 10.1007/s11027-006-0265-6. http://www.cara.psu.edu/about/publications/Rygel_et_al_MASGC.pdf.