Business Disruption from Hurricane Harvey

Small to medium sized businesses are especially susceptible to the effects of disaster. To gather more in-depth information about how disasters affect businesses, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched a study of business disruption in several disasters. One of those locations is the Houston area with Hurricane Harvey. SCIPP’s partners at Texas Sea Grant collaborated with the Texas A&M Hazards Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) to survey business owners and non-profit organizations in the affected area. NIST developed a business disruption survey, which was modified for local circumstances related to Hurricane Harvey. The survey was administered through the HRRC partners to businesses and non-profit organizations in the affected areas. Survey data collection was interrupted by the pandemic and several other flooding events from hurricanes and tropical systems, but preliminary results showed that Hurricane Harvey did indeed spur mitigation activities among organizations. Furthermore, findings showed a disparity in level of impact and lag in recovery from minority-owned businesses.> This project received funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

For the final report, click here.