Tale of Two Storms

We use the case of Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Harvey to test how extreme climate events drive neighborhood racial change and how impacts vary in settings with different socioeconomic characteristics and exposures to past flooding risk. Using data on neighborhood characteristics, mortgage applications, and inundation after the storms, we show that in both New York City and Harris County, Texas, population and housing units actually increased more in the neighborhoods with more severe flooding. In addition, the share of residents who are White declined more in hard-hit neighborhoods, especially those outside the flood zone where residents would have had less information about flood risk prior to the storm. In New York, we also see a relative decline in income among mortgage applicants in flooded areas outside the flood zone, especially in low-income neighborhoods. Effects are generally more muted in Harris County, perhaps because flooding had been historically more common.

Climate change · Flood myth · Hurricane katrina · Population · Socioeconomic status · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Disaster Management and Resilience · Flood Risk Assessment and Management