Social Networks of Help-Seeking in Different Types of Disaster Responses to the 2008 Mississippi River Floods

We conducted thirty-two interviews and four focus groups in Illinois after extensive flooding in 2008 to determine whether people use social networks in different ways when responding to different types of challenges before, during, and after the flood. Using a grounded theory approach to analyze narratives of interviewees recalling events, we coded sections of text using "social relationship" and "response" as sensitizing concepts. Results showed people relied most on immediate family when securing life. Networks expanded to friends, neighbors, professionals, and volunteers during non-life-threatening preparation and immediate recovery. Immediately before the disaster's impact, social networks extended outward into weak ties in a spirit of communitas. During long-term recovery, interviewees were most isolated and relied heavily on immediate family and professionals. The concepts of bridging and bonding social capital may be more important for understanding non-vital response, whereas strong and weak ties are more relevant for understanding evacuation and long-term recovery. Strong and weak ties best help explain post-disaster social stratification. Policies aimed at enhancing recovery should recognize that the roles of social networks are constantly changing.