Community Economic Recovery

The Center for Urban Rural Interface Studies (CURIS) was established in 2005 to address sustainable development and disaster preparedness needs in rural communities. The CURIS Region includes 20 counties and parishes in four of the five coastal states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Because of the location, these states experience a wide range of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts and wildfires.

Natural disasters have caused serious damages to the nation’s coastal communities, especially the recent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, Harvey, Michael, Dorian, and others. The expedited path to economic recovery is foremost in the priorities among the local leadership and business sector of counties and parishes affected by recent natural disasters.

Economic resiliency as defined by Rose (2004) is the inherent and adaptive responses to disasters that enable individuals and communities to avoid some potential losses. It can take place at the level of the firm, household, market, or macroeconomy. The economic variables to be used in measuring the economic recovery of counties and parishes will include variables describing the community human capital, retail sales and taxes, business payroll and work force, and private construction.