Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Public Housing on the Periphery: Vulnerable Residents and Depleted Resilience Reserves post-Hurricane Sandy

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hurricane Sandy was the greatest natural disaster to ever impact public housing residents in New York City. It affected approximately 80,000 residents in 400 buildings in 33 developments throughout the city. The storm left residents without power, heat, or running water, yet many chose not to evacuate. This qualitative study was conducted to understand the impact of Sandy among this socially, physically, and geographically vulnerable population. It is the first known study to examine the impact of disasters in high-rise, high-density public housing as a unique risk environment. Findings demonstrate (1) broad impacts to homes, health and access to resources, (2) complex evacuation decision-making, (3) varied sources of support in the response and recovery phases, and (4) lessons learned in preparedness. Results are contextualized within an original conceptual framework—“resilience reserve”—that explains the phenomenon of delayed recovery stemming from enactments of resilience to manage chronic hardship leaving vulnerable populations without the requisite capacity to take protective action when facing acute adversity. We discuss recommendations to establish and replenish the resilience reserve that include personal, institutional, and structural facets.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Vlahov D, Galea S. Urbanization, urbanicity, and health. J Urban Health. 2002;79:1):S1–S12.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. McMichael AJ. The urban environment and health in a world of increasing globalization: issues for developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2000;78:1117–26.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Gornitz V, Couch S, Hartig EK. Impacts of sea level rise in the New York City metropolitan area. Glob Planet Chang. 2001;32(1):61–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Trenberth KE, Fasullo JT, Shepherd TG. Attribution of climate extreme events. Nat Clim Chang. 2015;5(8):725–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Klinenberg E. Heat wave: a social autopsy of disaster in Chicago. University of Chicago Press; 2015.

  6. New York City Housing Authority. NYCHA 2017 Fact Sheet 2017; https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/factsheet.pdf. Accessed August 4, 2017.

  7. Parton HB, Greene R, Flatley AM, Viswanathan N, Wilensky L, Berman J, et al. Health of Older Adults in New York City Public Housing: part 1, findings from the New York City Housing Authority senior survey. Care Management Journals. 2012;13(3):134.

  8. New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Recovery to Resiliency: NYCHA’s Superstorm Sandy Recovery Program Fact Sheet. 2017; https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/nycha-sandy-factsheet.pdf. Accessed August 15, 2017.

  9. New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Recovery to Resiliency Report. New York: NYCHA; 2015. http://www1.nyc.gov/html/onenyc/index.html. Accessed July 26, 2018.

  10. Lane K, Charles-Guzman K, Wheeler K, Abid Z, Graber N, Matte T. Health effects of coastal storms and flooding in urban areas: a review and vulnerability assessment. J Environ Public Health. 2013;2013:1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Performance Tracking and Analytics Department. Development Data Book 2013. 2013; http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/pdb2013.pdf. Accessed September 20, 2017.

  12. Brown S, Parton H, Driver C, Norman C. Evacuation during Hurricane Sandy: data from a rapid community assessment. PLoS Curr 2016;8.

  13. Manuel J. The long road to recovery: environmental health impacts of Hurricane Sandy. Environ Health Perspect. 2013;121(5):a152–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). What climate change means for New York. 2016; https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-ny.pdf. Accessed August 3, 2017.

  15. Cutter SL, Emrich CT. Moral hazard, social catastrophe: the changing face of vulnerability along the hurricane coasts. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2006;604(1):102–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Cong Z, Nejat A, Liang D. The effect of emotional closeness and exchanges of support among family members on residents’ positive and negative psychological responses after Hurricane Sandy. PLoS Curr 2016;8.

  17. Apsan HN. Resiliency and continuity: Hurricane Sandy and The City University of New York. Environ Qual Manag. 2013;23(2):61–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Shipp Hilts A, Mack S, Li Y, Eidson M, Nguyen T, Birkhead GS. New York State Public Health System response to Hurricane Sandy: an analysis of survey feedback. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(3):454–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Neria Y, Nandi A, Galea S. Post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters: a systematic review. Psychol Med. 2008;38(4):467–80.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Reilly MJ, Degutis LC, Morse SS. Investigating the public health impact of Hurricane Sandy. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(3):301–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Norris FH, Stevens SP, Pfefferbaum B, Wyche KF, Pfefferbaum RL. Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. Am J Community Psychol. 2008;41(1–2):127–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Galea S, Brewin CR, Gruber M, Jones RT, King DW, King LA, et al. Exposure to hurricane-related stressors and mental illness after Hurricane Katrina. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(12):1427–34.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Lowe SR, Sampson L, Gruebner O, Galea S. Psychological resilience after Hurricane Sandy: the influence of individual-and community-level factors on mental health after a large-scale natural disaster. PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0125761.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Cutter SL, Barnes L, Berry M, Burton C, Evans E, Tate E, et al. A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Glob Environ Chang. 2008;18(4):598–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. The City of New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. A Stronger, More Resilient New York. 2013. https://www.nycedc.com/resource/stronger-more-resilient-new-york. Accessed July 26, 2018.

  26. Zaineb M. Nor’easter ‘Athena’ bombards areas hardest hit by Sandy. Mother Jones November 7, 2012. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/11/noreaster-slams-nyc-nj/. Accessed September 4, 2017.

  27. Hernández D. Energy insecurity: a framework for understanding energy, the built environment, and health among vulnerable populations in the context of climate change. Am J Public Health. 2013;103(4): e32–e34.

  28. Hernández D. Understanding ‘energy insecurity’ and why it matters to health. Soc Sci Med. 2016;167(Supplement C):1–10.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. King MA, Dorfman MV, Einav S, Niven AS, Kissoon N, Grissom CK. Evacuation of intensive care units during disaster: learning from the Hurricane Sandy experience. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(1):20–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Subaiya S, Moussavi C, Velasquez A, Stillman J. A rapid needs assessment of the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City after Hurricane Sandy and the relationship of socioeconomic status to recovery. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(4):632–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Elder K, Xirasagar S, Miller N, Bowen SA, Glover S, Piper C. African Americans’ decisions not to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina: a qualitative study. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(Supplement_1):S124–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Carbone EG, Wright MM. Hurricane Sandy recovery science: a model for disaster research. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(3):304–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Petkova EP, Beedasy J, Oh EJ, et al. Long-term recovery from Hurricane Sandy: evidence from a survey in New York City. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2017:1–4.

  34. Flanagan B, Gregory E, Hallisey E, Heitgerd J, Lewis B. A social vulnerability index for disaster management. J Homel Secur Emerg Vol 82011.

  35. Tierney K, Gutmann A. Social Inequality, Hazards, and Disasters. On Risk and Disaster: University of Pennsylvania Press; 2006:109–128.

  36. Lowe SR, Sampson L, Gruebner O, Galea S. Community unemployment and disaster-related stressors shape risk for posttraumatic stress in the longer-term aftermath of hurricane Sandy. J Trauma Stress. 2016;29(5):440–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Sharp MJ, Sun M, Ledneva T, Lauper U, Pantea C, Lin S. Effect of Hurricane Sandy on health care services utilization under Medicaid. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2016;10(3):472–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Neria Y, Shultz JM. Mental health effects of Hurricane Sandy: characteristics, potential aftermath, and response. JAMA. 2012;308(24):2571–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Morrow BH. Identifying and mapping community vulnerability. Disasters. 1999;23(1):1–18.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Hawkins RL, Maurer K. ‘You fix my community, you have fixed my life’: the disruption and rebuilding of ontological security in New Orleans. Disasters. 2011;35(1):143–59.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Hawkins R. Same as it ever was, only worse: negative life events and poverty among New Orleans Katrina survivors. Fam Soc : J Contemp Soc Serv. 2009;90(4):375–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Baum A, Garofalo J, Yali A. Socioeconomic status and chronic stress: does stress account for SES effects on health? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999;896(1):131–44.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Gallo LC, Matthews KA. Understanding the association between socioeconomic status and physical health: do negative emotions play a role? Psychol Bull. 2003;129(1):10–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Gallo LC, KEdl M, Shivpuri S. Socioeconomic status and health. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2009;18(5):269–74.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Schetter CD, Dolbier C. Resilience in the context of chronic stress and health in adults. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2011;5(9):634–52.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Wadsworth ME, Santiago CD. Risk and resiliency processes in ethnically diverse families in poverty. J Fam Psychol. 2008;22(3):399–410.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Béné C, Newsham A, Davies M, Ulrichs M, Godfrey-Wood R. Resilience, poverty and development. J Int Dev. 2014;26(5):598–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Williams DR, Yu Y, Jackson JS, Anderson NB. Racial differences in physical and mental health: socio-economic status, stress and discrimination. J Health Psychol. 1997;2(3):335–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Hobfoll SE. Conservation of resources: a new attempt at conceptualizing stress. Am Psychol. 1989;44(3):513–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Norris FH, Tracy M, Galea S. Looking for resilience: understanding the longitudinal trajectories of responses to stress. Soc Sci Med. 2009;68(12):2190–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Mitigation Assessment Team Report‐ Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York: Building Performance Observations, Recommendations, and Technical Guidance.. FEMA P‐942 / November 2013. https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1386850803857-025eb299df32c6782fdcbb6f69b35b13/Combined_Sandy_MAT_Report_508post.pdf. Accessed July 26, 2018.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their profound gratitude to Ausama Abdelhadi for providing editorial comment and refining the presentation of ideas in this manuscript. We also wish to acknowledge Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman, formerly at WE ACT for helping to organize the data collection efforts and Thomas Matte, formerly of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY USA for serving as an adviser to the project. We also wish to thank Chris Vacchio for his collaboration on the map featured in this article. This project was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Award HITEP130009) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Award P30ES009089).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociomedical Sciences Department, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Diana Hernández, Carole Hutchinson, Evanah Hill, Amenda Almonte, Rachel Burns & David Evans

  2. WE ACT for Environmental Justice, New York, NY, USA

    David Chang & Peggy Shepard

  3. Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA

    Ingrid Gonzalez

  4. Formerly at Family Services Department, New York City Housing Authority, New York, NY, USA

    Nora Reissig

Authors
  1. Diana Hernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Chang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carole Hutchinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Evanah Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Amenda Almonte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rachel Burns
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Peggy Shepard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ingrid Gonzalez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Nora Reissig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. David Evans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana Hernández.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hernández, D., Chang, D., Hutchinson, C. et al. Public Housing on the Periphery: Vulnerable Residents and Depleted Resilience Reserves post-Hurricane Sandy. J Urban Health 95, 703–715 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0280-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0280-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation