  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
return 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.
