Investigation of Causal Relationships among Factors Affecting Post-Disaster Reconstruction Process: Adoption of Social Network Analysis (SNA) Method

The increasing number of natural disasters that have occurred globally within the last decade has made it vital for decision-makers to understand the factors that affect the process of recovery. Damage sustained by the infrastructure is a fundamental post-disaster issue that has to be addressed as quickly as possible and reconstructing the damaged or destroyed residential housing in a timely manner is essential to the affected community's ability to return to its normal level of functioning. This study investigated the causal relationships among the factors that delay the recovery process after hurricanes. The factors were identified by a literature review, and the relationships were determined by implementing a social network analysis (SNA). The results of this study show that misalignment among the policies, insufficient local government revenue, and lack of experience cause the most significant delays in the recovery process. Historically, many other factors, such as rate of employment, diversity of culture and languages, and damage to commercial buildings have not been adequately implemented in frameworks and models and deserve more consideration. The findings of this study will assist decision-makers of post-disaster recovery in achieving a more resilient community by identifying the relationships among the factors that prevent or delay recovery and planning how to avoid them.