Rebuilding for Resilience: A Barrier Island Case : The Bolivar Peninsula, U.S.A.

"Recurring extreme events of nature challenge disaster-prone settlements in complex ways. Devastating property damages are one of the tests of survival for such settlements in both economic and social terms. It also provides unique opportunities to rethink the environment cleared by massive natural disasters. However, rebuilding for long-term resiliency is one of the least investigated areas, particularly when employing tacit knowledge in the sustainable recovery process. This book builds a discursive field around the post-disaster rebuilding of Bolivar Peninsula aftermath Hurricane Ike to demonstrate reciprocity between disaster absorptive ecological formations such as barrier islands and their exploitative human occupation. In the process, it investigates the nexus between connectivity among open space networks to various levels of surge damage among Bolivar spontaneous settlements. Beyond scientific analyses, the Hurricane Ike study triangulates syntactical methods with structured observations and statistical analyses to offer a holistic reporting model for emerging scholars and independent investigators, which one may find quite absent in the mainstream disaster studies and journalism."-- Provided by publisher Contents 6 Nomenclature 9 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 13 1 Introduction: Disasters in the Divided 14 References 21 2 Global to Glocal 22 Disaster Epidemiology 23 The Global Perspective 23 The Purpose 33 Hurricane-Prone Bolivar Peninsula 34 Why Bolivar? 36 Typology and Development of East Texas Houses 37 Galveston: Twin or Neighbor? 42 Conclusions 44 References 45 3 Sustainability-Resiliency Status Quo 48 Sustainable Post Disaster Recovery 49 Environmental Sustainability: The Architectural Call 49 Local Knowledge Approach to Sustainable Disaster Recovery 51 Modes of Resiliency 54 Land Use Planning 54 Building Methods 57 Environmental Resilience 62 The Case of Bolivar Peninsula 65 Building Biopsies 70 Elevation 71 Front Porches 71 Siding 72 Ridge and Hip Shingles 72 Secondary Water Protection and Underlayments 72 Flashing 72 Roof Structure 73 Roof Sheathing Attachment and Gable End Overhangs 73 Spatial Analysis and Sustainability 73 Conclusions 75 References 75 4 Tensegrity Model 81 Ecological Inquiry 82 Premises, Questions, and Objectives 82 Representative Cases 84 The Tensegrity Components Explained 85 Objective Evaluation of Space 87 Objective Evaluation of Place 88 Verified Variables 90 Syntactical Analysis 91 Permeability Rubric 92 Selective Sampling 94 Informed Instrumentation 96 Data Collection 97 Data Analysis 98 Limitations and Delimitations 98 Conclusions 99 References 99 5 Connectivity: Gaps and Overlaps 101 Bolivar Neighborhoods: The Nature of Damage 102 Syntactical Analysis 104 Axial Integration and Connectivity of the Settlements 105 Visibility Mapping 106 Inferential Analysis (ANOVA) 107 Informed Guesses and Extrapolation 108 Outcome Analysis 108 Port Bolivar: Permeability Analysis 110 Permeability: Regression Analysis 116 Conclusions 117 References 118 6 Rebuilding Rhetoric Aka Significance 119 Conclusions for Policy 119 Post-disaster Housing on Bolivar Peninsula 121 Conclusions for Practice 121 Nexus: Mapping and Structured Observations 122 Semiotics of Survival 124 Hill Escape 125 Buddy System 126 Old and Gold 127 High and Dry 128 Modest Yet Mighty 129 Significance: Rebuilding for Resilience 131 Place Identity 131 Know-How Justice 132 Speedy Recovery 133 References 135 Appendix 136