Disaster relief efforts of Houston sport organizations

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the community recovery efforts undertaken by Houston, Texas, sport organizations following Hurricane Harvey in 2017.Design/methodology/approachForty-eight media articles, 138 social media posts from Houston athletes and five semi-structured interviews with Houston sport organization executives underwent a content analysis to categorize responses of disaster relief activities. All eleven categories were identified. Three themes emerged from additional analysis: organizations serving as communication hubs, earned trust and internal organizational support. Benchmark examples in key categories are also discussed.FindingsThis paper provided focused analysis of the reactions of several Houston area sport organizations during the immediate disaster recovery period. Organizations participated in both tangible and emotional recovery efforts. The long-term impacts of these efforts will require additional investigation. The findings of this case study are specific to the relief efforts in Houston, Texas, following Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and may not be generalizable beyond this scope.Practical implicationsSport organizations and community leaders can better prepare for future disaster responses by gaining insight into the roles and procedures enacted by the Houston teams following the Hurricane in 2017.Originality/valueThis study provides a detailed examination of the responses of several Houston sport organizations following Hurricane Harvey, including perspectives from executives inside of the organizations. Utilizing social anchor theory, this paper expands our understanding of the impacts sport organizations may produce in their roles as social anchors during disaster relief and recovery.