Business recovery from Hurricane Harvey

This paper examines factors that affected the progress of post-disaster business recovery in South Texas of the United States using survey and field data collected up to one year after Hurricane Harvey struck the region. Property damage affected the way businesses financed their rebuilding efforts and thus their ability to resume operation after a temporary closure. Local chamber members and women were more likely to reopen their businesses within six months after Harvey, but such demographic effects diminished another six months later. Other than property damage, loss of employees posted a challenge for affected businesses to recover.