Well-Being and Infrastructure Disruptions during Disasters: An Empirical Analysis of Household Impact Disparities during Hurricane Harvey

There are limited studies that empirically evaluate the interactions between households and infrastructure systems. As a result, the extent to which interruptions in infrastructure services influence different aspects of well-being for different subpopulations is still only vaguely understood. In order to address this knowledge gap, this study investigates multiple dimensions of well-being to derive an empirical relationship between sociodemographic factors of households and their subjective well-being impacts due to disruptions in various infrastructure services during and immediately after Hurricane Harvey. Statistical analysis driven by spearman-rank order correlations and fisher-z tests indicated significant disparities in well-being due to service disruptions among vulnerable population groups. The characterization of well-being is used to explain why and to what extent infrastructure service disruptions influence different subpopulations. The results show that disruptions in particular infrastructure systems are more likely to result in well-being impact disparities, in which racial minorities experience the greatest impact. Similarly, interruptions in services were more likely to evoke changes in social wellbeing and household's connectivity to their communities. These findings present novel insights to understanding the role of infrastructure resilience in household well-being, as well as inequalities in well-being impacts across various subpopulations. The approach of the research and its findings enable a paradigm shift towards a more human-centric approach to infrastructure resilience.