Department of Geography, University of Utah; 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Department of Sociology, University of Utah; 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Environ Res. 2019 Dec;179(Pt A):108772. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108772. Epub 2019 Sep 25.
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.
环境正义研究在洪水方面严重依赖于对聚合地理区域单元的分析和评估对“洪前”风险的暴露程度（例如，居住在百年洪泛区），而不是实际的洪水事件。为了解决这些限制，我们研究了 2017 年休斯敦（德克萨斯州）大哈维飓风引起的不成比例的洪水暴露问题。利用哈维飓风前从 377 个有代表性的家庭收集的主要调查数据和美国联邦紧急事务管理局开发的关于哈维引发的洪水淹没的空间数据，我们发现，居民住地周围的洪水区域范围在种族/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/少数民族家庭经历的洪水比白人家庭更广泛，而 SES 较低的家庭比 SES 较高的家庭面临更广泛的洪水。这些发现与大休斯敦以前的洪水风险研究一致，并引起关注，因为洪水暴露方面的社会不平等可能会影响洪水影响和灾后需求方面的社会差异。由于气候变化，大休斯敦的洪水事件预计会增加频率和规模，因此社会差异的影响可能成为一个日益突出的公共政策问题。因此，应该采取积极的方法来降低洪水风险并减轻差异。
