A mixed-method study of Princeville's rebuilding from the flood of 1999: lessons on the importance of invisible community assets.

Guided by previous studies and the community assets perspective, a concurrent mixed-method case study was conducted five years after a devastating flood to investigate how invisible community assets played a role in Princeville's rebuilding process from the flood of 1999. The independent variables in this study included retrospectively assessed elected leadership, community cohesion, and depression. The dependent variables were the perceived financial recovery to the pre-disaster level and the current emotional status. The quantitative method (n=127) indicates a statistically significant relationship between the retrospectively assessed depression and the financial recovery (Spearman's rho=.327, p<.001). Chi-square coefficient reveals that elected leaders' ability to mobilize needed resources was also significantly related to the financial recovery (Cramers' V=.350, p=.013). Qualitative methods identified the community's symbolic meaning and unique needs of being an aged community as the most precious internal assets of the community during the rebuilding process. Major implications are discussed.