Examining the effects of flood damage, federal hazard mitigation assistance, and flood insurance policy on population migration in the conterminous US between 2010 and 2019

Flooding has significantly impacted the coastal communities in the US. However, few studies have examined the impacts of historical flood damages and hazard mitigation assistance (HMA) on community resilience. This research employs a Bayesian Hierarchical Model to investigate the effects of flood damage claims, flood insurance, HMA projects, and Small Business Assistance (SBA) loans on population migration between 2010 and 2019. Results indicate that historical flood damages and current hazard mitigation investments have significant negative effects on population migration, while flood insurance and CRS class have positive effects on community resilience. HMA projects from the federal government, including building acquisition, building elevation, building retrofit, planning-related projects, and infrastructure/utility projects, have negative effects on population migration. Nevertheless, SBA loans have significant positive group -level effects in metropolitans of Florida and Texas, both of which experienced devastating hur-ricanes between 2010 and 2019.

Automated summary

This research examines the impacts of flood damages and hazard mitigation assistance on population migration. The results show that flood damages and hazard mitigation investments have negative effects on population migration, while flood insurance and CRS class have positive effects on community resilience. Federal government's hazard mitigation projects have negative effects on population migration, while SBA loans have significant positive effects in some hurricane-affected areas.