Title: Implications of natural disasters on regional recovery: the case of Florida hurricanes

Authors: Hulya Julie Yazici; John Shannon

Addresses: Department of ISASC, Lutgert College of Business, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Boulevard South, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA ' Regional Economic Research Institute, Lutgert College of Business, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Boulevard South, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA

Abstract: Natural disasters like hurricanes can disrupt regional economic growth. This paper analyses the post-disaster economic resiliency of 67 Florida counties between 1990 and 2017. The strength and closeness of hurricanes that impacted the county is described as hurricane shock. Using a fixed effects model, the paper examines the influence of hurricane shock and industrial diversity on unemployment rate at the county and state levels. Results show that industrial diversification assists counties most affected by hurricane, subject to hurricane shock and lagged hurricane shock, resulting in lesser unemployment rate. Furthermore, a post-disaster survey was conducted with regional businesses to determine the recovery factors following the 2017 hurricane Irma. Survey results indicate the importance of pre-disaster economic resiliency, disaster preparedness and supply logistics in their recovery. The interviews with business, emergency management and non-profit organisations reveal that joint effort and partnership were key to their recovery success.

Keywords: economic resilience; economic diversification; hurricanes; disaster recovery; unemployment rate.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2025.145783

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2025 Vol.24 No.2, pp.146 - 168

Received: 25 Jul 2023
Accepted: 23 Jul 2024
Published online: 23 Apr 2025 *

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