Abstract
Disaster recovery spending for major flood events in the United States is at an all-time high. Yet research examining equity in disaster assistance increasingly shows that recovery funding underserves vulnerable populations. Based on a review of academic and grey literature, this article synthesizes empirical knowledge of population disparities in access to flood disaster assistance and outcomes during disaster recovery. The results identify renters, low-income households, and racial and ethnic minorities as populations that most face barriers accessing federal assistance and experience adverse recovery outcomes. The analysis explores the drivers of these inequities and concludes with a focus on the performance of disaster programs in addressing unmet needs, recognition of intersectional social vulnerabilities in recovery analysis, and gaps in data availability and transparency.
Highlights
The US government distributes billions of dollars in recovery assistance each year to communities impacted by flood disasters
This study examines the state of knowledge regarding access to flood disaster assistance and recovery outcomes for socially vulnerable populations
We focus on two interrelated questions: Who faces the greatest barriers accessing recovery assistance and who experiences adverse outcomes during recovery? Via comprehensive review of academic articles and grey literature, we synthesize empirical knowledge at the nexus of US flood disaster impacts, federal recovery programs, and socially vulnerable populations
Summary
The US government distributes billions of dollars in recovery assistance each year to communities impacted by flood disasters. Research examining the social equity of disaster assistance indicates that recovery spending underserves populations who need it most (Muñoz and Tate, 2016; Emrich et al, 2020; Drakes et al, 2021; GAO, 2021). Empirical findings of how flood recovery and disaster assistance vary across affected populations are salient to support this direction. Such findings largely remain siloed, spanning research articles in multiple academic disciplines, and reports by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and think tanks. Synthesizing this understanding is critical to support policy remedies
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