ABSTRACT
Effective post-disaster planning is essential to enable communities to recover from natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis, as well as human-induced events such as acts of terrorism or accidents. In anticipation of these high-impact low-probability events, at-risk communities need policies, contingency plans, procedures, guidelines, and budgets that can enable them implement recovery actions. However, recent major disasters in the United States (e.g., Hurricanes Sandy, Katrina, Rita, and the Joplin Tornado) reveal the inability of existing policies and practices to promptly restore infrastructure, residential properties, and commercial activities in affected communities. The exponential increase in future extreme events (Bournay and UNEP/GRID-Arendal 2007) coupled with the growing population in disaster-prone regions has created an urgent need for a better understanding of
9.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 127 9.2 Factors Affecting Household Recovery ........................................................ 129
9.2.1 Social Networks and Social Capital ................................................. 129 9.2.2 Place Attachment .............................................................................. 130
9.3 Hurricane Sandy and Its Impacts on Staten Island, New York .................... 131 9.4 Methodology and Data Collection ................................................................ 132
9.4.1 Face-to-Face Survey ......................................................................... 132 9.5 Vignette Survey ............................................................................................ 134 9.6 Main Findings ............................................................................................... 135
9.6.1 Vignette Survey ................................................................................ 135 9.6.2 Face-to-Face Survey ......................................................................... 136
9.7 Lessons Learned and Remaining Gaps in Knowledge ................................. 137 Acknowledgment ................................................................................................... 138 Appendix 9A .......................................................................................................... 138 References .............................................................................................................. 140
the process of disaster recovery and more effective strategies to enhance it. These enhancements can in turn lead to fewer casualties, and saving of federal resources, which according to US Department of Housing and Urban Development (US HUD) (2011) amounted to $19.7 billion for grants used in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in 2005 alone.
