Due to the effects of global climate change, natural disasters such as hurricanes are increasing in terms of both intensity and frequency. During the record-breaking hurricane season of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma struck the U. S. Gulf Coast, affecting areas from Texas to Florida and causing billions of dollars in damage. This study examines the allocation of FEMA Public Assistance across the affected Gulf of Mexico states, what factors account for variation in in assistance allocation, what are the priorities for recovery among county leaders and what obstacles they have encountered since 2005. This study includes 136 counties and seven independent variables. The analysis includes bivariate correlation and multiple regression analysis, and a brief survey that was sent out to the Emergency Management Agency Director in each county of the study area. The results show that the level of damage and amount of poverty within a county were strong predictors of Public Assistance allocation. Debris Removal and Infrastructure projects were the highest overall priority for communities and the most common obstacle faced by the local government was difficulty in getting a firm commitment from FEMA regarding the eligibility of a project. These results have important implications for future disaster management that will face ever-evolving risks.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04142013-143134 |
| Date | 18 April 2013 |
| Creators | Golden, Pamela Camille |
| Contributors | Carney, Jeffrey, Lam, Nina, Reams, Margaret |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04142013-143134/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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