Unequal Recovery? Federal Resource Distribution after a Midwest Flood Disaster
by
Cristina E. Muñoz *
and Eric Tate
Cristina E. Muñoz * and Eric Tate
Department of Geographical & Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Jayajit Chakraborty, Sara E. Grineski and Timothy W. Collins
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(5), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13050507
Received: 17 March 2016 / Revised: 5 May 2016 / Accepted: 9 May 2016 / Published: 17 May 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Justice Research: Contemporary Issues and Emerging Topics)
Following severe flooding in 2008, three Iowa communities acquired over 1000 damaged properties to support disaster recovery and mitigation. This research applies a distributive justice framework to analyze the distribution of disaster recovery funds for property acquisition. Two research questions drive the analysis: (1) how does recovery vary by acquisition funding source; and (2) what is the relationship between recovery and vulnerable populations? Through spatial econometric modeling, relative recovery is compared between two federal programs that funded the acquisitions, and across socially vulnerable populations. The results indicate both distributive and temporal inequalities in the allocation of federal recovery funds. In particular, Latino and elderly populations were associated with lower recovery rates. Recommendations for future research in flood recovery and acquisitions are provided.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Muñoz, C.E.; Tate, E. Unequal Recovery? Federal Resource Distribution after a Midwest Flood Disaster. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 507.
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