The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in Florida’s history, with four hurricanes causing at least 47 deaths and some $45 billion in damages. In order to collect information on the demographic impact of those hurricanes, we surveyed households throughout the state and in the local areas sustaining the greatest damage. We estimate that one-quarter of Florida’s population evacuated prior to at least one hurricane; in some areas, well over half the residents evacuated at least once and many evacuated several times.
By most measures, the 2004 hurricane season was the worst in Florida’s history. Four hurricanes blasted through the state between August 13 and September 25, with Charley making landfall on the southwest coast near Punta Gorda, Frances on the southeast coast near Stuart, Ivan in the panhandle near Pensacola, and Jeanne nearly retracing the route followed by Frances. This was the first time in recorded history that four hurricanes had struck Florida in a single year. Most parts of the state were hit by at least one of the hurricanes and some were hit by two or even three.
Florida was struck by four devastating hurricanes in 2004. In a previous issue of Florida Focus, we presented the results of a survey designed to assess the impact of those hurricanes at the state level. Those results provided a useful statewide overview, but provided no information on the impact of the hurricanes on local areas in Florida. Since some of the most populous parts of the state were largely unaffected by the hurricanes, state-level results understate the impact of the hurricanes on many local areas.
In this study, we describe an approach that can be used to estimate the demographic impact of hurricanes and other natural disasters, provide a detailed assessment of the 2004 hurricane season in Florida, compare the 2004 hurricanes with Hurricanes Andrew (1992) and Katrina (2005), and draw several conclusions regarding the likely impact of hurricanes and other natural disasters on future population growth.
The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in Florida’s history, with four hurricanes causing at least 47 deaths and some $45 billion in damages. In order to collect information on the demographic impact of those hurricanes, we surveyed households throughout the state and in the local areas sustaining the greatest damage. Using these data, we estimated that one-quarter of Florida’s population evacuated prior to at least one of the hurricanes; in some areas, well over half the residents evacuated at least once and many evacuated several times.
