The effect of social capital on household reconstruction: Puerto Rico recovering from Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017 was stronger and more devastating than anticipated, particularly for the people living in the line of impact. When these events occur, housing reconstruction is at the forefront of residents� minds as they look to resume normal daily life and protect the safety of themselves and their family. In light of this, it is imperative to understand how some communities are able to reconstruct when the official process becomes difficult or impossible to navigate. This study takes the perspective of social drivers to reconstruction outside of the formal process and focuses on the relationship between self-reported social capital and informal reconstruction processes. These processes include unlicensed labor, reusing scrap materials and overusing temporary fixes. This study asks the question, what effect does social capital have on the level of household informal reconstruction in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria? Door to door household surveys (N=163) were gathered in the rural municipality of Loiza in Puerto Rico between December 2018-January 2019. Results suggest a correlation between bridging social capital and percentage of informal reconstruction used which suggests that connecting resources across communities is important to ensure widespread access. Theoretical implications include a further understanding of the importance of social capital past the initial response phase such as distributing food after a hazard event, but in fact it extends into the long-term permanent housing reconstruction phase.