Severe weather impacts, inequality, and the normalization of suffering: Black and Hispanic Americans in Houston, Texas

• In Event: 30420 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15: Race, Environment, Ecologies

Abstract

This research provides evidence for a 'normalization of suffering' framework in research on severe weather events and racial disparities in impacts. The normalization of suffering framework argues that racial/ethnic minorities become accustomed to negative conditions and experiences and that the effect of hardship on physical and mental well-being diminishes over time. While the normalization of suffering framework has been generally applied to research on other forms of structural violence, we argue that its application is also useful for research and theory on community resilience and severe weather impacts. Our study uses survey data which contains questions on impacts experienced by Harris County, Texas residents during Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research's Greater Houston Community Panel. We find that, relative to white residents, while Black and Hispanic residents in Harris County were more likely to experience food loss and insecurity as a result of Hurricane Beryl's impacts, they were less likely to report poorer quality sleep and Hispanic residents were less likely to report poorer physical health as a result of the storm. These results suggest that community resilience to severe weather impacts should continue to consider past experience with hardship as an important dimension of community resilience.

Authors

• Dylan A Simburger, Rice University

• Joy Njeh, Rice University