TY - GEN
T1 - An empirical spatial resiliency analysis to examine impacts of natural disasters on different demographics
AU - Ilbeigi, Mohammad
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Natural disasters are the result of interactions between natural hazards and complex human factors. Many experts believe, and previous studies imply that vulnerability to natural disasters is linked to socioeconomic characteristics of urban communities. This association can be analyzed from different perspectives. In this study, the association between socioeconomic factors and physical damage to housing units during natural disasters is empirically and statistically examined to test whether the hypothesis that socioeconomic factors are related to vulnerability of residential structures can be supported empirically by available data. Spatial post-disaster housing damage assessment data published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and Hurricane Irma in Florida both in 2017, as well as socioeconomic data collected by the United State Census Bureau was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. The results of the analysis did not indicate strong or statistically significant empirical evidence that supports the hypothetical association between socioeconomic factors and damage to housing units. In other words, there is no statistical evidence that indicates housing units in zip codes with different socioeconomic factors such as average income, percentage of minority ethnicities, and population density in Texas and Florida suffered disproportionally during Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in 2017.
AB - Natural disasters are the result of interactions between natural hazards and complex human factors. Many experts believe, and previous studies imply that vulnerability to natural disasters is linked to socioeconomic characteristics of urban communities. This association can be analyzed from different perspectives. In this study, the association between socioeconomic factors and physical damage to housing units during natural disasters is empirically and statistically examined to test whether the hypothesis that socioeconomic factors are related to vulnerability of residential structures can be supported empirically by available data. Spatial post-disaster housing damage assessment data published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and Hurricane Irma in Florida both in 2017, as well as socioeconomic data collected by the United State Census Bureau was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. The results of the analysis did not indicate strong or statistically significant empirical evidence that supports the hypothetical association between socioeconomic factors and damage to housing units. In other words, there is no statistical evidence that indicates housing units in zip codes with different socioeconomic factors such as average income, percentage of minority ethnicities, and population density in Texas and Florida suffered disproportionally during Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in 2017.
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U2 - 10.1061/9780784482858.022
DO - 10.1061/9780784482858.022
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85096911551
T3 - Construction Research Congress 2020: Infrastructure Systems and Sustainability - Selected Papers from the Construction Research Congress 2020
SP - 196
EP - 202
BT - Construction Research Congress 2020
A2 - El Asmar, Mounir
A2 - Tang, Pingbo
A2 - Grau, David
T2 - Construction Research Congress 2020: Infrastructure Systems and Sustainability
Y2 - 8 March 2020 through 10 March 2020
ER -