Citation

Rathfon D, Davidson R, Bevington J, Vicini A, Hill A. Disasters 2013; 37(2): 333-355.

Affiliation

Structural Engineer at AECOM, United States Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware, United States Director at ImageCat, Ltd., United Kingdom Research Scientist at ImageCat, Ltd., United Kingdom Associate Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-7717.2012.01305.x

PMID

23278508

Abstract

Quantitative assessment of post-disaster housing recovery is critical to enhancing understanding of the process and improving the decisions that shape it. Nevertheless, few comprehensive empirical evaluations of post-disaster housing recovery have been conducted, and no standard measurement methods exist. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of housing recovery in Punta Gorda, Florida, United States, following Hurricane Charley of August 2004, including an overview of the phases of housing recovery, progression of recovery over time, alternative trajectories of recovery, differential recovery, incorporation of mitigation, and effect on property sales. The assessment is grounded in a conceptual framework that considers the recovery of both people and place, and that emphasises recovery as a process, not as an endpoint. Several data sources are integrated into the assessment-including building permits, remotely sensed imagery, and property appraiser data-and their strengths and limitations are discussed with a view to developing a standardised method for measuring and monitoring housing recovery.

Language: en