When major storms hit Houston last spring and summer, losing power was a nightmare for residents, but for many, the financial fallout was just as devastating. A new report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research finds that more than half of Houston-area workers lost income due to these storms, either because they couldn’t get to work or their jobs were forced to close.
More than 90% of residents in Houston and Harris County lost power, some for days, and nearly 8 in 10 had to throw out spoiled food, sometimes more than once. On top of that, about half of all residents reported damage to their homes or property, adding to the financial strain. For many, these storms didn’t just cause temporary setbacks — they created long-term financial challenges.
“The widespread experience of power outages, loss of utilities, and damage to homes and property was something we anticipated seeing in this study because we lived through it,” said Daniel Potter, director of the Houston Population Research Center at the Kinder Institute. “But with many losing hundreds of dollars of spoiled food and then losing income — that is a compounding effect that can make it all the more difficult to recover.”
Other key findings include:
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About 6 in 10 residents reported a combined food loss from both events of about $500.
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Over two-thirds of residents reported their health was impacted in some way.
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About half of residents experienced home or property damage from one of the storms, and about 1 in 7 experienced vehicle damage.
While FEMA and other agencies have tracked the physical damage from these storms, the Kinder Institute’s new report, “2024 Storm Impacts and Harris County: A Descriptive Overview,” examines the cumulative impacts, including damage to property and effects on residents’ health and finances.
“We knew before these storms that nearly half of Houston-area residents said they would struggle to come up with $400 to cover an unexpected expense,” Potter said. “A storm that wipes out hundreds of dollars of groceries is an example of an unexpected expense.”
With Houston’s storm season approaching and hurricane season just around the corner, these findings can help officials and preparedness efforts better understand last year’s widespread effects.
In addition to FEMA aid to households affected by disasters — which totaled over $1 billion for those affected by the derecho and Beryl — the Texas Workforce Commission provides Disaster Unemployment Assistance in counties under a presidential disaster declaration.
“As Houston and Harris County prepare for the next disaster — because it is not a matter of if but when it will occur — additional research is needed to further understand the disparities of impacts across neighborhoods and communities so that resources can be quickly deployed where it may be needed most,” Potter said.
The survey was conducted on over 5,000 Harris County residents in July-August 2024.
