Towards a Transformative Role for Local Knowledge in Post-Disaster Recovery: Prospects for Co-Production in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy

Abstract

This paper focuses on the reassessment of risk by storm victims in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. It directs attention to the gap that separates local knowledge about risks from professional expertise and to prospects for bridging these different perspectives in pursuit of more sustainable co-produced outcomes. Supporting evidence is drawn from focus group discussions that involved residents of three New Jersey communities in the months following Hurricane Sandy, while they were negotiating paths among instruments of regulatory guidance, most notably an evolving National Flood Insurance Program. Proposals are offered for improving recovery from future storm surge disasters by expanding the permanent constituency in support of responsible redevelopment. Findings suggest that there is fertile ground for employing co-produced risk assessments in the United States and other affluent nations as well as in developing societies.