Hurricane recovery gaps lie in reconnection, not local restart

Abstract

Climate-intensified hurricanes disrupt urban mobility, yet whether recovery is equitable across the rural-urban gradient is unclear. Analyzing device-based mobility for Hurricanes Helene and Milton, we find local activity restarted within approximately 4.5 days in both storms, whereas reconnection to the outside world took 5 days in coastal-urban Florida but 11 in inland-rural Appalachia. The gap lies in external reconnection, not local restart, implying planners should target rural isolation.