In recent decades, natural hazards have gained relevance due to increased frequency, intensity, and the devastation they have left behind. This work aims to advance the understanding of adaptive capacity to floods through a comprehensive assessment of adaptive capacity in terms of its three determinants: mitigation, response, and recovery, that is, the actions a community or an individual undertakes before, during, and after being exposed to a flood to be able to prepare for, cope, and recover from its losses. This work addresses the development of a conceptual framework for an adaptive capacity index for floods and uses the municipality of Rincón, PR, as its test bench. The proposed index is developed using literature research on vulnerability attributes to natural hazards and statistical analyses on survey data. Data analyses included Cronbach’s alpha for identifying the vulnerability attributes that measure the same determinant of adaptive capacity and the analytical hierarchy process for fitting the adaptive capacity index. Results include a validated conceptual framework for adaptive capacity and quantitative results for an index on adaptive capacity and each of its determinants. Results on the proposed index are complemented with a discussion on vulnerable hotspots, and an example on how to use the proposed index to allocate preparedness or disaster relief funds. The rankings of county sudivisions, by adaptive capacity and each of its determinants, can be further used by practitioners to prioritize areas where mitigation cost-benefit analysis and next-generation hazard modeling are most needed.

在最近的几十年中，由于频率，强度和破坏力的不断提高，自然灾害已引起人们的关注。这项工作旨在通过对减灾能力的三个决定因素（减灾，响应和恢复）进行全面评估，从而提高对洪水适应能力的理解，即减灾，应对和恢复，即社区或个人在洪水发生之前，之中和之后采取的行动。遭受洪水的侵袭，能够为损失做准备，应对并从中恢复。这项工作解决了洪水适应能力指数的概念框架的开发问题，并使用了Rincón，PR作为试验基地。拟议的指数是根据对自然灾害易受伤害属性的文献研究以及对调查数据的统计分析得出的。数据分析包括克伦巴赫（Cronbach）的alpha值（用于确定衡量自适应能力的相同决定因素的脆弱性属性）以及用于拟合自适应能力指数的分析层次过程。结果包括一个经过验证的适应能力概念框架，以及一个适应能力指数及其决定因素的定量结果。拟议指标的结果辅以关于脆弱热点的讨论，以及有关如何使用拟议指标分配备灾或救灾资金的示例。从业人员的适应能力及其决定因素的排名，可以由从业者进一步用来确定那些最需要缓解成本效益分析和下一代危害模型的领域。