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Thesis
Socioeconomic Impacts of Hurricanes Ivan and Sally in Escambia County, Florida
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2022
Abstract
Hurricanes present substantial threats to coastal communities around the globe. In the United States alone, hurricanes have caused over 6500 deaths and $1.8 trillion in economic loss
since 1980. Damage from hurricanes can have detrimental effects on local communities. Studies
have shown that damage from hurricanes is spread unequally amongst different segments of the
population.
The area of focus for this study is Escambia County, Florida. Hurricanes Ivan and Sally
caused much damage within the county. The focus of this research is two-fold: (1) to identify the
most vulnerable segments of the population from the two storms according to census and
household damage data; and (2) to examine the spatial and statistical relationships between the
socioeconomic and household damage variables in order to ascertain the vulnerability identified
in objective 1.
For research objective number one, socioeconomic and demographic data were collected
from the US Census and individual household damage data was collected from Escambia County
GIS. For research objective number 2, maps of all census tracts showing household damage and
socioeconomic data were produced and compared. A Mood’s median test was used to test the
significance of the change in damage and socioeconomic characteristics between each storm.
It was found that census tracts with higher median household income, lower Black and/or
Hispanic population, and along the coast were most exposed to storm damage from Hurricane
Ivan. Meanwhile, the census tracts most exposed to damage during Hurricane Sally were of low
black population and inland.
Details
- Title
- Socioeconomic Impacts of Hurricanes Ivan and Sally in Escambia County, Florida
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Jason Ortegren (Advisor)Kwame Owusu-Daaku (Committee Member)John D. Morgan (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 38
- Copyright
- © Janene Whitley Johnston
- Identifiers
- 99380092796906600
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Science (MS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida