Perceptions of gentrification after a climate disaster: An example from Hurricane Florence

Natural hazards, particularly hurricanes, cause extensive flooding, resulting in billions of dollars in losses to coastal communities, affecting people and infrastructure. Over time, as socioeconomic patterns shift, the impacts of hazards also shift and change the landscape. While much of the literature entails the structural and economic aftermath of natural hazards, fewer researchers explore their role in shaping neighborhood gentrification, especially from residents' perspectives. Through a community survey, residents' perceptions were examined to identify how Hurricane Florence (September 2018) influenced neighborhood changes throughout coastal New Hanover County, North Carolina. Using a community survey questionnaire, we identified several factors that influence the perceptions of gentrification. Multivariate regression identified several significant relationships between residents' perceptions of the impacts of natural hazards, specifically Hurricane Florence (the dependent variable), their residential status (renter/owner), education level, household income, perceived neighborhood changes in the past five years, and disaster recovery policies. These findings suggested that while many respondents recognized characteristics of gentrification, such as increased housing development and rising living costs, opinions on the role of Hurricane Florence in this process were divided. This study contributes to the growing literature on the impacts of natural hazards on gentrification processes and emphasizes the importance of understanding community impacts following natural hazards through the eyes of residents.