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dc.titleImpact of Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas: A View from the Sky
dc.contributor.authorZegarra, Maria Alejandra
dc.contributor.authorSchmid, Juan Pedro
dc.contributor.authorPalomino, Luis
dc.contributor.authorSeminario, Bruno
dc.contributor.orgunitCountry Department Caribbean Group
dc.coverageBahamas
dc.coverageThe Caribbean
dc.date.available2020-01-27T00:00:00
dc.date.issue2020-01-28T00:00:00
dc.description.abstractHurricane Dorian has been among the most devastating natural disasters ever to hit The Bahamas. The estimated damages and losses from it amount to US$3.4 billion (IDB, 2019), a number equivalent to a quarter of the countrys GDP. Dorians effects also resulted in the revision of The Bahamas economic growth forecast. The IMF reduced GDP growth estimates for 2019 to 0.9 percent, and the economy is expected to contract in 2020. Under these circumstances, this paper proposes a methodology to track the economic recovery of The Bahamas on a monthly basis. The results suggest that the GDP growth rate in most of the 19 islands that comprise The Bahamas suffered a sharp decrease because of Hurricane Dorian. The islands that suffered the most from this event have recorded significant decreases in their economic activity. Abaco shows a reduction in monthly economic activity of 54 percent comparing September 2019 to September 2018, and Grand Bahama registered a 34 percent decrease. These estimates were obtained by comparing the spatial variation of satellite night lights as an indicator of the country's economic activity before and after Hurricane Dorian. Satellite night lights observed from the space are publicly available and have been used before to measure economic activity. This study also presents a new annual series of regionalized GDP estimates by island from 1992 to 2018, and on a monthly basis, from January 2012 to September 2019.
dc.format.extent17
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0002163
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Impact_of_Hurricane_Dorian_in_The_Bahamas_A_View_from_the_Sky.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectEconomic Development
dc.subjectHurricane
dc.subjectNatural Disaster
dc.subject.jelcodeQ54 - Climate • Natural Disasters and Their Management • Global Warming
dc.subject.jelcodeN16 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.jelcodeC82 - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data • Data Access
dc.subject.keywordsThe Bahamas;night lights;GDP;Hurricane Dorian
dc.typeTechnical Notes
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-TN-01857
idb.operationBH-P1122
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