Step 2 (Assess Vulnerability and Risk) of the Steps to Resilience helps communities pinpoint their main risks and vulnerabilities linked to primary hazards and assets. Using the Steps to Resilience Investigate Options Tool (Options Database), you can search for solutions that others have considered when facing similar climate hazards, and begin to build a set of potential actions for your community. "Options" refer to objectives, strategies, and actions, and can include policies, programs, projects, schemes, systems, or technologies to boost resilience.

The Options Database is a collection of actions sourced from a range of local, state, regional, and national climate adaptation plans. This tool gathers the collective wisdom shared by each community and empowers others to craft a list of potential actions worth exploring to protect their assets. The efficacy of each option's implementation requires place-based knowledge and this tool highlights the importance of adapting these solutions for each community's unique insights, challenges, and strengths.