ABSTRACT

The authors report findings of their empirical work from 1992’s Hurricane Andrew in Miami-Dade, Florida, 2008’s Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas, and 2012’s Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey to characterize housing recovery. Disasters magnify and accelerate housing processes already occurring in communities. During the recovery process, pre-existing housing inequities related to household characteristics and housing tenure are at risk of being exacerbated. Differences in hazards exposure, the structural quality of homes, financial capabilities, and uneven performance of federal housing recovery programs widen housing gaps between population groups during disaster recovery in the impact areas. Three approaches to overcome these problems in the United States are discussed.