Natural Hazards and Residential Instability: A Longitudinal Analysis of Pervasive, Cumulative Effects on Socially Vulnerable Populations

• In Event: 057 - Regular Session. Disaster

Abstract

This study contends that to understand the unequal effects of natural hazards on residential mobility, researchers must extend beyond disaster research to conceptualize both as pervasive, ongoing processes that intersect over time. To illustrate the value of this approach, we link county-level data on cumulative property losses from natural hazards to restricted, geocoded data on individuals from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Results show that the average U.S. household lives in a county that experiences approximately $20 million in direct hazard-related damages per year. Results also show that as this damage accumulates, it increases residential instability for all residents, especially minority men and women as well as those who rent and have less education. The implication is that hazard-related residential instability is much more pervasive and dynamic than typically acknowledged and that it is likely to become even more so in the future if current policies and processes continue.

Authors

• James R. Elliott, Rice University

• Junia Howell, Rice University