AFTER THE STORM SURGE: HURRICANES, LOCAL CRIME RATE AND FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF

45 pagesHurricanes are the costliest natural disasters in the US. Not only is the direct economic loss significant, but the negative externality that comes with the hurricanes is substantial as well. In this paper, I estimate the effect of hurricanes on one social impact that is overlooked - the local crime rate. My results show that a hurricane increases larceny or other stolen property crime by 7.2%, burglary by 9.9%, robbery by 19.6%, and property crime in general by 6.7%, yielding a social cost of $27,960 per county on average. I also find that such an increase in crime tends to happen more often in areas that have lower socioeconomic status and higher racial heterogeneity. Besides, government’s response to hurricanes matters. I study the efficiency and effectiveness of the current federal assistance program and estimate the benefit of mitigation project investment