Identifier

etd-10312016-094002

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Agricultural Economics

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Coastal Louisiana is annually threatened by coastal storms. Population grown, wetland loss, and potentially increasing storm frequency are likely to increase coastal vulnerability to these events. Increasingly, coastal management entities are managing land resources to reduce the economic impact of natural disasters with the use of natural infrastructure. This is true in Louisiana where the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan allocates billions of dollars to coastal restoration projects, many of which are intended to mitigate economic damages from tropical storms and hurricanes. Despite this significant proposed investment, the risk reduction value provided by these projects is not well known. This analysis uses model simulation data and hurricane impact data to estimate the parish-level impacts of hurricanes in coastal parishes from 1997-2008. Using this information, an expected damage function is estimated that describes economic damages as a function of population, relative wetland area, and storm intensity. The model is used to estimate the annual vulnerability of coastal parishes to hurricane damage. Future scenarios of hurricane regime change, wetland loss, and population growth are imposed to estimate the increase in coastal storm vulnerability that can be expected under these scenarios. The model parameters are used to estimate the value of coastal wetlands as natural infrastructure for hurricane risk reduction, and important trends in coastal wetland loss are highlighted in terms of their importance for the future vulnerability of coastal Louisiana.

Date

2016

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Caffey, Rex

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.4308

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