Abstract
This study provides insights from individuals working to reestablish permanent housing in Sea Bright, NJ, following Hurricane Sandy. To collect these perspectives, we gathered data in two ways: a self-administered questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. We mailed questionnaires to every household in Sea Bright that included a number of fixed response items and open-ended questions that focused on the interface of government and citizens to discuss their housing recovery process and problems or pitfalls they have encountered while recovering. To complement our questionnaire data, we conducted interviews with full-time residents, part-time residents, homeowners, renters, and representatives of the local, state, and federal government. We utilized conventional content analysis methods to discover sociological themes, focusing on the underlying behaviors, actions, and emotions the text portrayed. Several powerful themes emerged from our analysis of the open-ended questions and interviews. Most notably, we found a fundamental disconnect between how policymakers and homeowners viewed the housing recovery process. In particular, survivors highlighted the amount of and complexity-laden paperwork associated with the aid process, unfavorable interactions with government employees and a system that seemed to have goals that were inherently different from their own, and the sense that the rules associated with aid were constantly changing. We conclude with a discussion of additional research needs and some preliminary policy recommendations based on these insights.
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Notes
In cases where more than one interviewee participated, we use P1 and P2 to delineate between the two participants.
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This work was supported by the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) at Rutgers University through the University Transportation Center Program (funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation [Grant DTRT12-G-UTC16]). The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agency.
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Greer, A., Trainor, J.E. A system disconnected: perspectives on post-disaster housing recovery policy and programs. Nat Hazards 106, 303–326 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04463-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04463-1