New Jersey- As previously mentioned, many of the locals after Hurricane Sandy were forced to leave because they couldn’t afford to rebuild. This obviously changed the community significantly, but one of the interesting effects of this was a higher income population moving into modest communities. A local geologist who toured us around the shore had shown us some extremely lavish properties in the area, but at one point she said she would now show us a more modest community. Only issue was when we reached the community it was no longer modest. In place of two-story cottages were three story mansions with pillars and heavenly gardens in front of the homes. The previous owners of the property couldn’t afford to pay for the damage caused by Sandy, and as a result they sold it to a richer clientele. Money also ruled cleanup after Sandy as most of the massive mansions on the barrier islands were rebuilt first because the owners had the means to pay for it first. This obviously caused a social schism in the community dividing the haves from the have nots.
Japan- In Japan, entire towns were completely destroyed by the tsunami causing a move into temporary housing. The temporary housing facilities was only meant to last 5 years, however residence are still staying in these houses to this day. As a result of this, many of the younger families in the community with the means to leave the temporary housing have moved into more urban areas. We saw this effect when we went to one of the temporary housing facilities and interviewed some of it’s residence. Almost everyone we interviewed was at least past their 40s because most of the young families had left already and had no desire to return to their old homes. The older community felt more attached to the land they owned and were resilient to return and most did not have the means financial to move anyways. It was amazing how warm and inviting the community was at the temporary housing facility and it seemed like these people have started to rebuild socially. However, another problem with the housing is that once residence finally are able to return to their homes, the community that was created at the temporary housing will be split up as most are not from the same area. A community was destroyed by the tsunami then rebuilt in the temporary housing, but then will soon be disbanded as residence move back to where they came from.