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We present a latent characteristic in socio-spatial networks, hazard-exposure heterophily, to capture the extent to which populations with dissimilar hazard exposure could assist each other through social ties. Heterophily is the tendency of unlike individuals to form social ties. Conversely, populations in hazard-prone spatial areas with significant hazard-exposure similarity, homophily, would lack sufficient resourcefulness to aid each other to lessen the impact of hazards. In the context of the Houston metropolitan area, we use Meta's Social Connectedness data to construct a socio-spatial network in juxtaposition with flood exposure data from National Flood Hazard Layer to analyze flood hazard exposure of spatial areas. The results reveal the extent and spatial variation of hazard-exposure heterophily in the study area. Notably, the results show that lower-income areas have lower hazard-exposure heterophily possibly caused by income segregation and the tendency of affordable housing development to be located in flood zones. Less resourceful social ties in hazard-prone areas due to their high-hazard-exposure homophily may inhibit low-income areas from better coping with hazard impacts and could contribute to their slower recovery. Overall, the results underscore the significance of characterizing hazard-exposure heterophily in socio-spatial networks to reveal community vulnerability and resilience to hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study are: (1) to specify evacuation return and home-switch stability as two critical milestones of short-term recovery during and in the aftermath of disasters; and (2) to understand the disparities among subpopulations in the duration of these critical recovery milestones. Using privacy-preserving fine-resolution location-based data, we examine evacuation and home move-out rates in Harris County, Texas in the context of the 2017 Hurricane Harvey. For each of the two critical recovery milestones, the results reveal the areas with short- and long-return durations and enable evaluating disparities in evacuation return and home-switch stability patterns. In fact, a shorter duration of critical recovery milestone indicators in flooded areas is not necessarily a positive indication. Shorter evacuation return could be due to barriers to evacuation and shorter home move-out rate return for lower-income residents is associated with living in rental homes. In addition, skewed and non-uniform recovery patterns for both the evacuation return and home-switch stability were observed in all subpopulation groups. All return patterns show a two-phase return progress pattern. The findings could inform disaster managers and public officials to perform recovery monitoring and resource allocation in a more proactive, data-driven, and equitable manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]