Articles | Volume 26, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-531-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-531-2026
Research article
 | 
26 Jan 2026
Research article |  | 26 Jan 2026

Quantifying the influence of coastal flood hazards on building habitability following Hurricane Irma

Benjamin Nelson-Mercer, Tessa Swanson, Seth Guikema, and Jeremy Bricker

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Habitability functions are developed to estimate the probability of a building becoming uninhabitable due to coastal flooding. These functions are created by combining a Hurricane Irma flood model with cell phone data showing which buildings people returned to following Irma. We find that unit discharge is the best predictor of building habitability. By quantifying the dependence of building habitability on flood hazards, this work improves how coastal communities prepare for flood events.
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