Houston’s Poorest Take Brunt of Natural Disasters, Study Finds

(Bloomberg) -- The Houston area’s lowest-income neighborhoods are hardest hit and slowest to recover from disasters such as Hurricane Harvey and the deadly February 2021 freeze, according to a new Rice University study. 

The survey of 17,000 Harris County, Texas, residents found that in poor areas basic necessities such as food and help with utility bills are more pressing in the immediate aftermath of disasters than building materials and repair crews that garner high demand in more affluent neighborhoods. 

Harris is the third-largest county in the U.S. and home to Houston. The study, performed by the university’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, said some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods included East Little York, Old Spanish Trail, Kashmere Gardens and Sharpstown.

More translators, transportation services, cash assistance and household weatherization programs could help those areas better handle natural disasters, the researchers wrote.

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