The What, How, and Why of Bottom-Up Rebuilding and Recovery After Natural Disasters

Abstract

The federal government plays a prominent role in post-disaster response and assistance in the United States. Research on post-disaster recovery, however, points to the importance of bottom-up responses, or actions driven by community actors. Bottom-up responses offer several advantages, including that they (1) have access to local knowledge, (2) can make use of social capital, and (3) have flexibility in a changing environment. These advantages, in turn, allow actors to promote recovery by (1) providing needed goods, services, and information; (2) coordinating actions, including the distribution of assistance; and (3) signaling return. This chapter relies on evidence following Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) to investigate the potential for bottom-up efforts in the aftermath of natural disaster.