As a Planning Intern at VHB, I collaborated with the Visibility Team to create a Resiliency Diagram that visualizes the interconnectedness between natural disasters and federal recovery funding. The goal was to produce a tool that could inform both internal discussions and external presentations on resilience planning.
 
The project began with cleaning and structuring over 10,000 FEMA disaster records (1954–present). I categorized events into hurricanes, floods, severe storms, fires, and snowstorms, then used Excel and Power BI to organize, analyze, and visualize this large dataset. A key challenge was aligning FEMA grant data (application, award, and distribution phases) with the disaster records, requiring cross-referencing multiple datasets and building overlays that clearly revealed how funding timelines intersect with disaster occurrences.
 
Once the relationships between disasters, grants, and annual cost estimates were established, I refined the visuals in Photoshop to create a clear and compelling narrative. Originally envisioned for 17 East Coast states, the project scope was narrowed to New York, allowing for a deeper, region-specific analysis.
 
This project challenged me to balance accuracy with clarity in data visualization, ensuring that the diagram was not only precise but also accessible to a wide range of audiences. Ultimately, the experience reinforced my interest in using data visualization as a bridge between technical analysis and strategic decision-making.