Flood recovery and property acquisition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Eric Tate; Aaron Strong; Travis Kraus; Haoyi Xiong

doi:10.1007/s11069-015-2060-8

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Flood recovery and property acquisition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Flood recovery and property acquisition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Eric Tate, Aaron Strong, Travis Kraus and Haoyi Xiong

Natural Hazards, Vol.80(3), pp.2055-2079

02/2016

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-2060-8

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Abstract

Voluntary property acquisitions are playing an increasingly prominent role in the aftermath of US flood disasters, as policy tools for community recovery and hazard mitigation. Following historic flooding in 2008, the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, instituted a federally supported program for the acquisition of over 1300 damaged properties. Using Cedar Rapids as a case study, this article investigates post-flood property acquisition from the perspectives of cost effectiveness and social equity. To assess economic viability, a benefit-cost analysis was performed at the parcel scale. Social equity was assessed using a social vulnerability index tailored to flood recovery. The results indicate that the property acquisitions are cost effective based on the avoidance of future flood losses, and prioritize socially vulnerable neighborhoods. The dual economic and social analysis sheds light on the capacity of federally supported buyouts to support holistic post-disaster planning and decision-making.

Hydrogeology

Civil Engineering

Environmental Management

Earth Sciences

Benefit-cost analysis

Natural Hazards

Buyouts

Disaster recovery

Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences

Geophysics/Geodesy

Social vulnerability

Details

Title: Subtitle: Flood recovery and property acquisition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Creators: Eric Tate - Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences University of Iowa 316 Jessup Hall Iowa City IA 52242 USA
Aaron Strong - RAND Corporation 1200 South Hayes Street Arlington VA 22202-5050 USA
Travis Kraus - Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance 124 S Main Street Mount Pleasant IA 52641 USA
Haoyi Xiong - Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences University of Iowa 316 Jessup Hall Iowa City IA 52242 USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Natural Hazards, Vol.80(3), pp.2055-2079
DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-2060-8
ISSN: 0921-030X
eISSN: 1573-0840
Publisher: Springer Netherlands; Dordrecht
Grant note: 1333190 / National Science Foundation (US) (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001)
Language: English
Date published: 02/2016
Academic Unit: Civil and Environmental Engineering; Public Policy Center (Archive); School of Planning and Public Affairs; Geographical and Sustainability Sciences
Record Identifier: 9983983650602771

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