Sheltering and Housing after Major Community Disasters: Case Studies and General Observations.

In an earlier report on evacuation, it was recommended that a special examination be made of the sheltering and housing aspects of disasters. Following that recommendation, The Disaster Research Center DRC reviewed the literature and undertook some analyses of previously unanalyzed data on that subject. In the report, we note that the literature is scanty and unsystematic, as well as marked by considerable conceptual confusion between sheltering and housing. Part of the confusion may be eliminated by distinguishing among emergency sheltering, temporary sheltering, temporary housing, and permanent housing. Drawing on DRC data, we also compiled three studies focusing on sheltering and housing in three major American disasters, namely the Wilkes-Barre flood, the Xenia tornado, and the Grand Island tornado. From the case studies, a series of observations and conclusions were drawn about emergency sheltering, temporary sheltering, temporary housing, and permanent housing. We note that there are different behavioral manifestations and problems both organizationally and individually, depending on which activity is being discussed. In addition, we suggest some high priority studies on sheltering and housing which ought to be conducted in the future. The report concludes with an appendix providing an annotated bibliography of three dozen publications which constitute the bulk of the empirical social science literature on disaster sheltering and housing.Author