Business return in New Orleans: decision making amid post-Katrina uncertainty.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Empirical observations on how businesses respond after a major catastrophe are rare, especially for a catastrophe as great as Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005. We analyzed repeated telephone surveys of New Orleans businesses conducted in December 2005, June 2006, and October 2007 to understand factors that influenced decisions to re-open amid post-disaster uncertainty.

Methodology/principal findings

Businesses in the group of professional, scientific, and technical services reopened the fastest in the near term, but differences in the rate of reopening for businesses stratified by type became indistinguishable in the longer term (around two years later). A reopening rate of 65% was found for all businesses by October 2007. Dis

SUBMITTER: Lam NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2727799 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature