ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the culture of response of one institution—the Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the United States Department of Commerce—to the post-disaster assistance needs of Florida communities and organizations hit by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It is based on an analysis conducted three years after Hurricane Andrew, of the effect of seventeen of the thirty EDA post-disaster assistance projects on the social, cultural, and economic recovery of communities, regional organizations, and community-level organizations in the impact zone. The goal is to improve upon the predisaster state. Effective progress, according to EDA, is demonstrated by projects that flexibly adapt to changing circumstances so as to move toward project objectives, even if this requires shifts in the original project timeline. Economic recovery in a disaster context differs from “normal” economic development. The social and cultural responses of communities to the major environmental challenge represented by disaster constitute an important area for anthropological research.