Demographic Signatures of Migration Systems: Population Recovery after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Jack DeWaard, University of Minnesota
Katherine J. Curtis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Elizabeth Fussell, Washington State University

Recent studies suggest that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita altered the structure and dynamics of the U.S. migration system in ways that promoted population recovery in disaster-affected areas. If so, then these changes should be reflected in the underlying demographic signature of the U.S. migration system. We test this idea by comparing the stable equivalent distribution of the U.S. population that is implied from the observed system of migration flows in the period after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to the distribution that is implied from the system of migration flows before these disasters. We then test to see whether changes to the underlying demographic signature of the U.S. migration system exhibit patterning consistent with, what we call, a vulnerability gradient. We close by replicating the steps above for each year within the recovery period to determine whether population recovery in disaster-affected areas has accelerated or decelerated over time.