Is it Time to Move Away? How Hurricanes Affect Future Plans

Abstract

Using surveys and interviews in the aftermath of Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, we investigated people's reasons for living on the coast of Georgia, their expectations for the future, and their intentions to stay in place or migrate away from the coast. We found that age, income, and ethnicity all play small but significant roles in determining intention to migrate, but that more intangible elements such as changes in quality of life or lifestyle may be more important. Many residents indicated a preference for remaining close if they were to permanently leave their homes, and residents were more likely to indicate a preference for staying in place after Irma than after Matthew. Residents may have many reasons for becoming more reluctant to move – complacency borne out of repeated “near misses”, increased awareness of the likely costs and inconvenience of re-location, or the realization that specific impacts are highly variable—making responses by coastal planners and managers more challenging.