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Abstract
Coastal communities are highly sensitive to economic damage from tropical storms. Wetland restoration is often proposed as a measure of protection from storm damage. This paper investigates the relationship between coastal storms, wetlands and communities by analyzing storm events and resulting damages from storms making landfall in Louisiana. A factor analysis is used to describe the extent to which wetlands mitigate economic damages, and an assessment of factor scores suggest that there is a storm intensity threshold for mitigation provided by wetland ecosystems.