Hurricane Impacts Across Income Groups: Comparing Disaster-Affected and Unaffected Areas in North Carolina

Natural disasters do not affect all communities equally. <span style="font-weight: 400;">Differences in income, infrastructure, and institutional support shape how communities experience and recover from such events.</span> Pre-existing income disparities, in particular, play a critical role in determining vulnerability and access to recovery resources. This study examines how the impacts of Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) varied across income groups in North Carolina. Using census tract data from a pre-storm period (2011&ndash;2015) and a post-storm period (2016&ndash;2020), the analysis compares hurricane-affected and unaffected areas within both high- and low-income communities. Results show that median home prices declined significantly across both income groups, indicating that housing markets in affected areas experienced prolonged stagnation regardless of income level. Also, significant declines in total population and residential stability were observed in high-income areas, suggesting notable outmigration likely driven by greater mobility and resources compared to low-income areas. These findings highlight the importance of pre-disaster economic conditions in shaping post-disaster socioeconomic outcomes and offer insights for developing more equitable disaster recovery and climate adaptation strategies.