An empirical spatial resiliency analysis to examine impacts of natural disasters on different demographics

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.