1 COMPARATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT AT ISLA DEL CARMEN AND CANCUN, MEXICO Mireille Escudero 1 , Edgar Mendoza 1 , Rodolfo Silva 1 and Monique Villatoro 1 Tropical cyclones and Cold-Fronts lead to storm surge and wave hazards annually in the coastal zones of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Anthropogenic intervention over a wide extension of these coasts has affected their natural equilibrium and resilience to these extreme natural phenomena. An integrated risk analysis is presented here, which aims to prevent or reduce serious beach erosion damage and inundation of settlements next to these beaches. Two important coastal lagoon barriers in Mexico were selected to develop the risk assessment methodology: Isla del Carmen, on the Gulf of Mexico; and Cancun, on the Caribbean coast. While both are important for socio-economic and ecological reasons, the contrast between the high-poverty zones in Isla del Carmen and the luxurious tourist development of Cancun facilitates the integration of a common vulnerability approach, which can be applicable to any other location affected by similar hazards. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate the socioeconomic risk of inundation; integrating the SPRC concept and the spatial variability of the risk, focusing on the parameters related to the resilience of the receptors and intangible indirect losses. Keywords: inundation hazard; socioeconomic vulnerability; integrated risk assessment approach INTRODUCTION The risk of inundation in the presence of storms is becoming a serious threat to communities settled on lagoon barrier islands in Mexico. The annual passage of very strong winds of polar origin (from October to February principally) and tropical cyclones (during the summer and autumn seasons) generates high waves and damaging storm surge. Breaching, overtopping and overwash processes occasionally take place, which in turn produce flooding in settlements next to the beaches and sometimes even flow exchanges between the sea and the lagoons. The risk analysis presented here looks at two ecologically valuable areas: Isla del Carmen and the beach system of Cancun, both of which are barrier island-lagoon systems affected by these natural phenomena. Isla del Carmen is a low lying island, separating Terminos Lagoon from the Gulf of Mexico; and the barrier island of Cancun, confined between the rocky points of Punta Cancun and Punta Nizuc, separates Nichupte Lagoon from the Caribbean Sea (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Location of the study areas. 1 Engineering Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Circuito Escolar s/n, Edificio 5, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, 04510, Mexico