Symposium on Population Migration and Repatriation Following Major Disasters

Recent disasters around the world (Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident in Japan, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico) have led to large population movements resulting in the displacement of individuals, families, and communities for lengthy periods of time generating pain, suffering, and economic hardships. The inflow of disaster migrants also places burdens on receiving communities. As disasters become more frequent, it is critical to understand how disaster migration decisions are made and how both home and resettlement communities can best respond to the population flows.

The Symposium will provide a global perspective by highlighting similarities and differences in post-disaster migration experiences in the two largest recent disasters in the industrialized world. By doing so, this will provide:

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  an interdisciplinary perspective of the causes and effects of post-disaster migration,

  
  


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  economic modeling of how disasters influence migration patterns and preferences,

  
  


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  analysis of post-disaster population recovery mechanisms (e.g. indications of cultural and community characteristics that should be targeted for preservation),

  
  


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  and a basis for conducting cost-benefit analyses of post-disaster population recovery initiatives.

  
  

The Symposium brings together practitioners and academic experts in fields of economics, sociology, planning, safety science, risk analysis and emergency management to exchange their knowledge and experience on the topic. The intent is to encourage interactions with the audience in order to highlight the international lessons learned from the Fukushima and Katrina experiences to better prepare for and react to future disasters.

For more details on the program, please see the event webpage.