NIST-NOAA Survey Instrument for Business Disruption and Recovery Associated With Extreme Events: General Instrument Applied to the Greater Charleston, SC Small- and Medium-Sized Business Community Post-Hurricane Irma

Abstract

To gather more in-depth information about how disasters affect businesses, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have launched a study of business disruption and recovery related to several natural disasters. This report outlines the survey instrument used as the basis for the research designed to be conducted in partnership between the NIST Applied Economics Office (AEO) and a place-based, interdisciplinary regional research team via the NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) Program. This research protocol uses a mixed-method research approach to study businesses that were impacted by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and their long-term recovery process. The approach combines both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods using both in- person and telephone surveys to obtain business disruption and recovery information from business owners and managers.