Disparate Outcomes

Abstract

This chapter takes a closer look at a series of recent disasters in order to highlight the disparate outcomes that resulted from the trends and covered in the preceding chapters. These disaster events include Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Maria, and Hurricane Harvey. Previous chapters provided multiple examples from Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina, but a more in-depth discussion of disparate outcomes is provided in this chapter. An analysis of available texts, narratives, and reports, coupled with academic literature, forms the basis for the contents of the chapter.

These examples align with the Vulnerability-Plus model through the intersection of the risk creation described in the preceding chapter with the socio-political framing of undeserving victims and complex policy systems coupled with implementation failures, all leading to reductions in collective efficacy and individual agency in the face of, and following, natural events such as Hurricane Katrina. Political economic restructuring, using the disaster as a catalyst, increases vulnerability, creating a dynamic cycle through the reduction of access to capitals and limitations in the exercise of individual agency. The resulting disparate outcomes include increases in poverty and economic hardship, the loss of public housing, unique challenges for renters, and displacement.