Weeks of widespread flooding last month have left many in the Midwest struggling with clean-up efforts, ruined levees, and overwhelming property losses, but one study could offer hope.
Recent research examining 516 Midwest communities affected by similar flooding in 1993 indicated the area’s economy displayed significant resilience following the disaster. The research is part of dissertation work completed by Yu Xiao, a University of Illinois urban and regional planning doctoral student. A poster based on the work was presented at the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop this month.
According to Xiao’s findings, which were based on gross domestic product, unemployment rate and number of businesses, the 1993 flooding caused only a limited or temporary downturn in communities’ economies that year and even less in following years.
“Two years after the event, there were no discernable aggregate effects on these economic indicators at the regional, state and county level,” Xiao stated in a University of Illinois press release last week.
Although Xiao’s research points to the possible promise of resiliency, it also indicates towns don’t always bounce back to their previous incarnations. A case study of Grafton, Illinois—included in the dissertation—showed that while the community recovered, the nature of the residents, housing, and businesses changed.
Xiao’s research found a variety of strategies businesses, communities, and governments can use in response and recovery from floods and other natural disasters, according to the statement. They included ditching red tape tied to recovery loans, providing more affordable housing options, and staying flexible in the aftermath of a disaster.
"For businesses, the message is that they should think in terms of newly emerged situations instead of just going back to the way things were,” Xiao stated. “That will never happen."
Xiao’s Workshop abstract, Community Economic Adjustment, Post-Disaster Mitigation, and Long-Term Economic Recovery, can be found at the Natural Hazards website.
Jolie Breeden is the lead editor and science communicator for Natural Hazards Center publications. She writes and edits for Research Counts; the Quick Response, Mitigation Matters, Public Health, and Weather Ready Research Award report series; as well as for special projects and publications. Breeden graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.