Community Perceptions of Industrial Risks Before and After a Toxic Flood: The Case of Houston and Hurricane Harvey

Abstract

The present study examines risk perceptions before and after a recent natural-technological event. The aim is to improve understanding of how long-time residents understand chronic and acute industrial risks, including hazardous industrial releases triggered by natural disasters. Thirty-two interviews were conducted in Channelview, Texas: 19 in February 2017, six months before Hurricane Harvey’s landfall, and 13 with those same residents in December 2017, four months after Harvey’s landfall. Results indicate that long-time residents normalized chronic risks of industrial pollution before the storm, but they were either unaware or incredulous that major industrial spills might result from a hurricane. After such an event, residents strengthened their normalization of industrial risks and became even more inclined to frame them as coming from external forces rather than from local facilities that continue to put their community at risk.

Acknowledgments

The lead author gratefully acknowledges support from the Chandler Davidson Research Fund, Department of Sociology, Rice University.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine A. Thomas

Katherine A. Thomas received her bachelor’s degree in statistics and policy studies from Rice University in 2017 and is currently conducting research in Buenos Aires as a Wagoner Scholar from Rice University; [email protected]

James R. Elliott

James R. Elliott is Professor and Chair of Sociology at Rice University. His research focuses on urbanization, social inequality, and the environment. He is a former Advisor to the Sociology Program at the National Science Foundation and Co-Editor of the journal Sociological Perspectives. His 2018 coauthored book with Dr. Scott Frickel is called Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards in American Cities, which is part of the American Sociological Association’s Rose Series in Sociology, published by the Russel Sage Foundation; [email protected]

Sergio Chavez

Sergio Chavez is Associate Professor of Sociology at Rice University. His research focuses on internal and international migration, work, social networks, border studies, gender, and emotions; [email protected]