Environmental injustice and Hurricane Harvey: A household-level study of socially disparate flood exposures in Greater Houston, Texas, USA
Environmental injustice and Hurricane Harvey: A household-level study of socially disparate flood exposures in Greater Houston, Texas, USA
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.envres.2019.108772
复制
发表时间：
2019-12-01
影响因子：
8.3
通讯作者：
Flores, Aaron B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Collins, Timothy W.;Grineski, Sara E.;Flores, Aaron B.
关于洪水的环境正义研究在很大程度上依赖于对汇总地理区域单位的分析和评估“洪水前”风险的暴露程度（例如，居住在100年一遇的洪水区），而不是实际的洪水事件。为了解决这些限制，我们研究了 2017 年哈维飓风在大休斯顿（德克萨斯州）造成的过度洪水风险。利用哈维之前收集的 377 个代表性家庭的初步调查数据以及美国联邦紧急事务管理局开发的哈维引发的洪水空间数据，我们发现居民住宅周围洪水的面积范围在种族/民族和社会经济地位 (SES) 方面分布不均。西班牙裔、黑人和其他种族/族裔家庭比白人家庭经历了更广泛的洪水，社会经济地位较低的家庭比社会经济地位较高的家庭面临更广泛的洪水。研究结果与大休斯顿地区先前的洪水风险研究一致，并引起人们的关注，因为洪水暴露的社会不平等可能影响了洪水影响和灾后需求的社会差异。由于气候变化，预计大休斯顿地区洪水事件的频率和规模将会增加，社会不同的影响可能会成为一个日益突出的公共政策问题。因此，应采取积极措施减少洪水风险并缩小差距。
Environmental justice research on flooding has relied heavily on analyses of aggregated geographic areal units and assessing exposure to 'pre-flood' risks (e.g., residence in 100-year flood zones) rather than actual flood events. To address these limitations, we examined disproportionate exposure to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 in Greater Houston (Texas). Using primary survey data collected from 377 representative households before Harvey and spatial data on Harvey-induced inundation developed by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, we found that the areal extent of flooding around residents' home sites was distributed inequitably with respect to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES). Hispanic, black and other racial/ethnic minority households experienced more extensive flooding than white households, and lower SES households faced more extensive flooding than higher SES households. Findings align with prior flood risk research in Greater Houston and provide cause for concern, as social inequities in flood exposure may have influenced social disparities in flood impacts and post-disaster needs. Since flood events in Greater Houston are expected to increase in frequency and magnitude due to climate change, socially disparate impacts are likely to become an increasingly salient public policy issue. Thus, proactive approaches for reducing flood risks and ameliorating disparities should be implemented.