Superstorm Sandy and the Demographics of Flood Risk in New York City

• In Event: 181 - Regular Session. Disasters: Resilience, Vulnerability, and Risk

Abstract

“Superstorm Sandy” brought unprecedented storm surge to New York City neighborhoods. Previous severe weather events exacerbated underlying inequalities because socially marginalized populations were concentrated in environmentally exposed areas. This study, which explores Sandy’s impact, finds economic and racial segregation overlapped with flood risk to create communities with dual vulnerabilities: social and environmental. Poverty rates were higher in affected areas, especially among blacks. Both whites and blacks were disproportionately represented in flooded neighborhoods, compared to Asians and Latinos. Conversely, transit disruption had the greatest effect on Asians and Latinos. Data from New York’s 311 system suggest there was variation in distress across neighborhoods of different racial makeup and that flooded neighborhoods showed signs of distress months after the storm. The concomitant trends of urbanization and frequency and/or severity of hurricanes due to climate change suggest that the city may become a more common social environment in which extreme weather unfolds.

Author

• Jacob William Faber, New York University