Cyclone disaster vulnerability and response experiences in coastal Bangladesh

For generations, cyclones and tidal surges have frequently devastated lives and property in coastal and island Bangladesh. This study explores vulnerability to cyclone hazards using first‐hand coping recollections from prior to, during and after these events. Qualitative field data suggest that, beyond extreme cyclone forces, localised vulnerability is defined in terms of response processes, infrastructure, socially uneven exposure, settlement development patterns, and livelihoods. Prior to cyclones, religious activities increase and people try to save food and valuable possessions. Those in dispersed settlements who fail to reach cyclone shelters take refuge in thatched‐roof houses and big‐branch trees. However, women and children are affected more despite the modification of traditional hierarchies during cyclone periods. Instinctive survival strategies and intra‐community cooperation improve coping post cyclone. This study recommends that disaster reduction programmes encourage cyclone mitigation while being aware of localised realities, endogenous risk analyses, and coping and adaptation of affected communities (as active survivors rather than helpless victims).     

Measuring revealed and emergent vulnerabilities of coastal communities to tsunami in Sri Lanka

This paper presents the important findings of a study undertaken in two selected tsunami-affected coastal cities in Sri Lanka (Batticaloa and Galle) to measure the revealed and emergent vulnerability of coastal communities. International risk studies have failed to demonstrate the high vulnerability of coastal communities to tsunami in Sri Lanka. Therefore, indirect assessment tools to measure pre-event vulnerability have to be complemented by assessment tools that analyse revealed and emergent vulnerability in looking at the aftermath and impact patterns of a real scenario, as well as in examining the dynamics of disaster recovery in which different vulnerabilities can be identified. The paper first presents a conceptual framework for capturing vulnerability within a process-oriented approach linked to sustainable development. Next, it highlights selected indicators and methods to measure revealed and emergent vulnerability at the local level using the examples of Batticaloa and Galle. Finally, it discusses the usefulness and application of vulnerability indicators within the framework of reconstruction.     

Calamity,kastom, and modernity: local interpretations of vulnerability in the western Pacific

On 2 April 2007 a large tsunami struck the small island of Simbo in the western Solomon Islands. It obliterated two villages, killed 10 people, and provoked communities on the northern half of the island to permanently relocate their settlements. In this article I examine how the Simbo people experienced and perceived this catastrophic event. Local discourses about the tsunami, its aftermath, and its selective lethality reveal how Simboans do not employ spiritual or naturalistic rationales to conceptualize vulnerability. Rather it is described in terms of the anxieties and novel opportunities associated with encroaching modernity and other exogenous large-scale social and economic processes. The case exemplifies the tensions and contradictions that arise when communities actively negotiate and trade-off one set of vulnerabilities for others as social and ecological contexts transform. I argue that an improved understanding of local interpretations of vulnerability is critical if our interest is to better cope with inevitable future ecological disturbances.     

Reducing hazard vulnerability: towards a common approach between disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation

Over the past few decades, four distinct and largely independent research and policy communities--disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, environmental management and poverty reduction--have been actively engaged in reducing socio-economic vulnerability to natural hazards. However, despite the significant efforts of these communities, the vulnerability of many individuals and communities to natural hazards continues to increase considerably. In particular, it is hydro-meteorological hazards that affect an increasing number of people and cause increasingly large economic losses. Arising from the realisation that these four communities have been largely working in isolation and enjoyed only limited success in reducing vulnerability, there is an emerging perceived need to strengthen significantly collaboration and to facilitate learning and information exchange between them. This article examines key communalities and differences between the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction communities, and proposes three exercises that would help to structure a multi-community dialogue and learning process.     

自然灾害脆弱性研究进展

近年来,在国际上日益重视防灾减灾的背景下,脆弱性研究已成为灾害学研究的主题并逐渐融入社会可持续发展策略。在回顾国内外灾害脆弱性研究发展的基础上,阐述了脆弱性的基本内涵,探究了自然灾害脆弱性的基本构成,并对灾害研究领域中容易混淆的危险性、脆弱型、风险、易损性与恢复力等概念进行了辨析。研究归纳总结了开展脆弱性评估的5种经典模式,风险-灾害(RH)模式、压力释放(PAR)模式、政治经济模式、基于区域的综合脆弱性模式和恢复力模式。并且指出,自然灾害研究领域的脆弱性评估应主要基于历史数据、指标体系和实际调查的灾损率曲线。从发展趋势来看,脆弱性研究正日益着重多领域合作、多对象细化和除指标体系外多种方法的综合应用,旨在从人类社会本身找出灾难根源,为灾害保险和政府决策提供有效指导。     

Chronic institutional failure and enhanced vulnerability to flash‐floods in the Cuenca Altadel Río Lerma,Mexico

The dominant paradigm in disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies has been seriously contested because of its reliance on interventions based on technocratic expertise. In the Mexican context, the influence of informal practices such as clientelism and cartelisation of the political system produces environmental degradation and vulnerability to disasters within the communities in the study site. This paper contributes to understanding of failed institutional processes and parallel practices that intensify vulnerability to disasters by contrasting the discourses of agents within a peri‐urban community in central Mexico. Employing the Situational Analysis Approach as a methodological framework, the study identifies divergent views and practices within the community, leading to different responses to disasters and to different perceptions regarding institutional performance. In addition, it finds that institutional decision‐making, based only on scientific and technical expertise, has resulted in unintended consequences that influence ongoing vulnerability to floods in the site under review.     

Pinning down vulnerability: from narratives to numbers

Social vulnerability analyses have typically relied upon narratives to capture the nuances of the concept. While narratives have enhanced our understanding of the multiple drivers of vulnerability, they have had limited influence on hazards and climate adaptation policy. This is partially a function of the different needs and goals of the policy and research communities. The former prioritises generalised quantitative information, while the latter is more concerned with capturing complexity. A theoretically driven and empirically tested quantitative vulnerability and capacities index (VCI) for use at the local scale is presented to help connect vulnerability research and policy. There are four versions of the index for use in rural and urban contexts at the household and community levels. There can be an infinite number of drivers of vulnerability, but the VCI draws upon 12 indicators to represent material, institutional and attitudinal aspects of differential vulnerability and capacities.     

家户水灾社会脆弱性的评估方法研究——以长沙地区为例

中国是洪水灾害发生频繁的国家之一，研究水灾脆弱性对中国的灾害风险管理有着极为重要的意义。但是，合理评估脆弱性尤其是社会脆弱性却面临着极大的挑战。利用Hoovering改进模式，选择湘江流域的长沙地区为研究区，对研究区内的家户进行了社会脆弱性评价。结果表明，长沙市区的5个区内，高脆弱性家户最多的是天心区，最少的是雨花区。而就社区而言，高脆弱性家户最多的足裕南街街道和桔子洲街道。该结果反映了长沙不同行政区、社区社会脆弱性的差别，可供确定受援地区和受援人群及开展援助活动，乃至灾后日常风险管理参考。     

Are non‐poor households always less vulnerable? The case of households exposed to protracted civil war in Southern Sudan

Civil wars in Africa are now the leading contributory cause of vulnerability of rural communities. Understanding vulnerability during civil war is critical for humanitarian response and post-conflict rehabilitation planning. The lack of understanding of vulnerability has led existing studies to make sweeping generalizations, either by equating the dynamics of vulnerability during civil wars with vulnerability in other risk events, or by projecting people in the 'war zones' as unable to cope and subsequently becoming vulnerable. This paper is an attempt to gain a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of vulnerability during protracted civil war. It shows that during civil war the non-poor are not necessarily less vulnerable than poor households. The idea that people caught up in civil war are all vulnerable is not supported by the findings of this paper. It shows that the 'standard' pattern of vulnerability to drought is similar to that during exogenous counter-insurgency warfare, while a different pattern of vulnerability to endogenous shocks is identified.     

Identifying and mapping community vulnerability

Disaster vulnerability is socially constructed, i.e., it arises out of the social and economic circumstances of everyday living. Most often discussed from the perspective of developing nations, this article extends the argument using American demographic trends. Examples from recent disasters, Hurricane Andrew in particular, illustrate how certain categories of people, such as the poor, the elderly, women-headed households and recent residents, are at greater risk throughout the disaster response process. Knowledge of where these groups are concentrated within communities and the general nature of their circumstances is an important step towards effective emergency management. Emergency planners, policy-makers and responding organisations are encouraged to identify and locate high-risk sectors on Community Vulnerability Maps, integrating this information into GIS systems where feasible. Effective disaster management calls for aggressively involving these neighbourhoods and groups at all levels of planning and response, as well as mitigation efforts that address the root causes of vulnerability.     

The rise of politics and the decline of vulnerability as criteria in disaster decisions of the United States, 1953–2009

This paper examines the shift from vulnerability to political responsiveness in presidential and gubernatorial disaster decisions in the United States from 1953–2009 (President Dwight D. Eisenhower to President Barack Obama) using annual request, declaration, and approval data from multiple sources. It makes three key conclusions: first, the 1988 Stafford Act expanded federal coverage to all categories of disasters, added a significant range of individual types of assistance, and provided extensive funding for recovery planning. Second, the election effects on disaster decisions increased over time whereas the impact of social and economic vulnerability (measured by scope of disaster) declined. Third, the changes affected governors more than presidents, and the choices of governors drove those of presidents. The analysis underscores the increasingly political nature of the disaster decision‐making process, as well as the difficulty in emphasising mitigation and preparedness as intensively as response and recovery. Proactive intervention yields fewer political rewards than responsiveness.     

Mapping cultural vulnerability in volcanic regions: The practical application of social volcanology at Mt Merapi,Indonesia

Protecting at-risk communities from geological hazards requires both knowledge of the physical hazard and an understanding of the community at risk. Interdisciplinary disaster research therefore explores the interface between hazards and society in order to improve disaster risk reduction strategies. At this interface there exist disaster sub-cultures that are produced through hazard experience and can be developed as a coping mechanism for the at-risk communities. Therefore, disaster sub-cultures could contribute to either social resilience or vulnerability. The fluid nature of the term culture and the difficulty in quantifying these important human traits mean that the local sub-cultures are complex and often not included within conventional risk management tools such as risk maps. However, this paper demonstrates how a disaster sub-culture found at Mt Merapi volcano, Indonesia, can be examined using interdisciplinary methods. The distinctive Mt Merapi sub-culture influences local community actions during the frequent eruptions. The findings from ethnographic studies completed on Mt Merapi in 2007 and 2009 have been translated and mapped in order to be incorporated within a holistic risk assessment. The key findings, methods of translation and maps are presented here, and demonstrate the potential for interdisciplinary research applications in disaster risk reduction.     

The concept of resilience revisited

The intimate connections between disaster recovery by and the resilience of affected communities have become common features of disaster risk reduction programmes since the adoption of The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. Increasing attention is now paid to the capacity of disaster-affected communities to 'bounce back' or to recover with little or no external assistance following a disaster. This highlights the need for a change in the disaster risk reduction work culture, with stronger emphasis being put on resilience rather than just need or vulnerability. However, varied conceptualisations of resilience pose new philosophical challenges. Yet achieving a consensus on the concept remains a test for disaster research and scholarship. This paper reviews the concept in terms of definitional issues, the role of vulnerability in resilience discourse and its meaning, and the differences between vulnerability and resilience. It concludes with some of the more immediately apparent implications of resilience thinking for the way we view and prepare for disasters.     

马来西亚雪兰莪州生态环境脆弱度评价——基于逐次投影寻踪模型的研究

以马来西亚雪兰俄州为例,利用逐次投影寻踪模型进行了生态环境脆弱度评价。在评价过程中,评价指标中加入了基于遥感的表征指标,并且通过逐次投影寻踪模型确定指标权重。结果表明,该地区的生态环境脆弱度不断加重,生态环境逐渐恶化;加入遥感表征指标,并基于逐次投影寻踪模型进行的生态环境脆弱度评价能,更好地反映研究区的生态环境脆弱度态势。     

Assessing climate change and health vulnerability at the local level: Travis County,Texas

We created a measure to help comprehend population vulnerability to potential flooding and excessive heat events using health, built environment and social factors. Through principal component analysis (PCA), we created non‐weighted sum index scores of literature‐reviewed social and built environment characteristics. We created baseline poor health measures using 1999–2005 age‐adjusted cardiovascular and combined diabetes and hypertension mortality rates to correspond with social–built environment indices. We mapped US Census block groups by linked age‐adjusted mortality and a PCA‐created social–built environment index. The goal was to measure flooding and excessive heat event vulnerability as proxies for population vulnerability to climate change for Travis County, Texas. This assessment identified communities where baseline poor health, social marginalisation and built environmental impediments intersected. Such assessments may assist targeted interventions and improve emergency preparedness in identified vulnerable communities, while fostering resilience through the focus of climate change adaptation policies at the local level.     

Measuring vulnerability to natural hazards: a macro framework

The measurement of vulnerability—defined here as the asymmetric response of disaster occurrences to hazardous events—signifies a key step towards effective disaster risk reduction and the promotion of a culture of disaster resilience. One of the reasons for not being able to do the same in a wider context is related to conceptual, definitional, and operational issues. This paper presents an operationally feasible framework for conducting this task and measures revealed macro vulnerability as a function of disaster risk and hazard probability. The probabilities of hazard and its perceived disaster risk were obtained from past data and from probability distributions. In this paper, the corresponding analytical framework is constructed using the case study of floods in Assam, India. The proposed indicator will help policymakers to draw on available macro‐level data to identify the regions that are vulnerable to disasters, where micro‐level disaster vulnerability assessments could be performed in greater detail.     

承灾体脆弱性评价指标中的量化方法探讨

承灾体脆弱性与人为因素有很大关系 ,承灾体脆弱性研究对区域减灾、减灾投资以及灾害保险等有着重要的意义 ,因此承灾体脆弱性评价则成为该项研究的关键。本文在采用层次分析法的基础上 ,探讨了承灾体脆弱性评价中的量化方法     

Vulnerability assessments as a political creation: tsunami management in Portugal

Vulnerability assessments are a cornerstone of contemporary disaster research. This paper shows how research procedures and the presentation of results of vulnerability assessments are politically filtered. Using data from a study of tsunami risk assessment in Portugal, the paper demonstrates that approaches, measurement instruments, and research procedures for evaluating vulnerability are influenced by institutional preferences, lines of communication, or lack thereof, between stakeholder groups, and available technical expertise. The institutional setting and the pattern of stakeholder interactions form a filter, resulting in a particular conceptualisation of vulnerability, affecting its operationalisation via existing methods and technologies and its institutional embedding. The Portuguese case reveals a conceptualisation that is aligned with perceptions prevalent in national government bureaucracies and the exclusion of local stakeholders owing to selected methodologies and assessment procedures. The decisions taken by actors involved in these areas affect how vulnerability is assessed, and ultimately which vulnerability reduction policies will be recommended in the appraisal.     

Land tenure,disasters and vulnerability

Although often overlooked, land tenure is an important variable impacting on vulnerability to disaster. Vulnerability can occur either where land tenure is perceived to be insecure, or where insecure tenure results in the loss of land, especially when alternative livelihood and housing options are limited. Disasters often provide the catalyst for such loss. This paper avoids making generalisations about the security of particular types of tenure, but instead explores factors that mediate tenure security, particularly in the wake of a disaster. The paper identifies five mediating factors: (1) the local legal system; (2) government administrative authority; (3) the economy; (4) evidence of tenure, and; (5) custom and dominant social attitudes. It is shown that some mediating factors are more salient for particular types of tenure than others. The paper will highlight the importance of land tenure in any assessment of vulnerability, and conclude with suggestions for further research.