Citation

Rivera JD. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2020; 44: e101424.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101424

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It is commonly accepted that evacuating disaster areas prior to the impact of an event is in everyone's best interest. As such, many studies have investigated what factors influence both evacuation behavior and return migration. However, few studies have specifically looked at the direct influence that the decision to evacuate may have on individuals' disaster recovery. Through the analysis of a representative sample of individuals affected by Hurricane Harvey living in Texas, this preliminary case study observes that evacuation negatively affected the extent to which people were able to recover in the short-term. This observation was not respective of race/ethnicity nor level of poverty. Additionally, being Hispanic had a positive relationship with the extent to which an individual recovered in the short-term. Future research recommendations are made in an effort to better understand these observations that may have profound implications on whether or not people choose to evacuate in future disasters.

Language: en