Social network characteristics and resource access among formerly displaced households in Lira,Uganda

In rural African communities, the support of extended family, friends, and neighbours is essential in borrowing or leveraging land, labour, food, and money, especially at times of social and financial turmoil. Little is known, though, about the nature of the networks and the conditions under which they may generate greater support in post‐conflict communities. This study, conducted in the Lira district of northern Uganda, examined the composition, proximity, and size of the networks that households utilise to gain access to resources during and after resettlement. Network structures with more kin and co‐resident ties were found to offer greater resource access to households in post‐conflict settings. Furthermore, there was a lack of meaningful linkages outside of a person's own village, especially with regard to households whose head has no or a low level of education. These findings enhance understanding of the specific role of relationships in social support for resource access among households in post‐conflict communities.     

Attitudes towards relocation following Hurricane Sandy: should we stay or should we go?

This study explores the dilemma of whether to rebuild or relocate from the areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Since disasters represent the discernible manifestation of other complex coastal hazards, they offer a window of opportunity to engage residents in the dialogue on relocation as sometimes the most effective risk reduction strategy. The following research evaluates attitudes towards relocation and willingness to consider buyout among 46 surveyed households located in highly‐affected communities five months after Sandy. It also gauges perceptions of coastal risks and recovery concerns as drivers of relocation, the level of support for different adaptation strategies, and preferences related to the relocation process itself on how and where to relocate and with what type of assistance. Responses indicate that, even though residents prefer structural solutions to address coastal hazards, they are not fully opposed to the possibility of relocation mostly for personal health and safety reasons.     

Needs assessment of the displaced population following the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey

In August 1999 a major earthquake struck north-western Turkey. An assessment followed to identify the immediate needs of the displaced population. A random cluster sample of displaced families living in temporary shelter outside of organised relief camps was designed. Representatives of 230 households from the four communities worse affected by the earthquake were interviewed. Most families lived in makeshift shelters (84 per cent), used bottled water (91 per cent), obtained food from relief organisations (61 per cent), had access to latrines (90 per cent), had a member on routine medication (53 per cent) and obtained information by word of mouth (81 per cent). Many respondents reported having family members who were over the age of 65 (32 per cent) or under age three (20 per cent), who were pregnant (6 per cent), or who had been ill since the earthquake (64 per cent). The greatest immediate need reported by most families was shelter requirements (37 per cent), followed by food (23 per cent) and hygiene requirements (19 per cent). Ten days after the earthquake, basic environmental health needs of food, shelter and hygiene still predominated in this displaced population. Significant portions may have special needs due to age or illness.     

Cyclone Aila,livelihood stress,and migration: empirical evidence from coastal Bangladesh

This paper investigates why households migrated as a unit to Khulna City from the affected Upazilas of Dacope and Koyra in Khulna District, Bangladesh, following Cyclone Aila on 25 May 2009. The study reveals that households migrated primarily because of the livelihood stress that resulted from the failure to derive a secure income like before the event from the impacted areas—other push and pull factors also played a part in their migration decision. Despite all of the Aila‐induced losses and problems, all households wanted to avoid migration, but they were unable to do so for this principal reason. The findings also demonstrate that, if livelihoods cannot be restored, some form of widespread migration is inevitable after a disaster such as this one. In addition, they show that migration has the potential to serve as a key adaptive response to environmental events, as evidenced by the improved economic conditions of a substantial number of the migrated households.     

Long‐term effects of Hurricane Katrina on the psychological well‐being of evacuees

Hurricane Katrina of August 2005 forced more than one million people to evacuate the Gulf Coast of the United States. This study examines the psychological health and well‐being of a subset of evacuees to determine the prevalence of ongoing mental health problems. Interviews were conducted with 101 adults who evacuated to Louisville, Kentucky, and were living in the state at the one‐year anniversary of the event or had recently returned to the Gulf Coast. The psychological health and well‐being of respondents was evaluated using several well‐validated measures. More than one‐half met the criteria for post‐traumatic stress disorder and a majority were suffering from depression and anxiety. The mean quality of life score was 0.6 on a scale from 0–1, suggesting that adaptation and return to pre‐hurricane well‐being had not occurred 12 months after the storm. The potential for long‐term psychological damage exists in this sample of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Results suggest other evacuees may also be at heightened risk.     

Cyclone shelters and their locational suitability: an empirical analysis from coastal Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the poorest and the most disaster‐prone countries in Asia; it is important, therefore, to know how its disaster reduction strategies are organised and planned. Cyclone shelters comprise a widely acceptable form of infrastructural support for disaster management in Bangladesh. This paper attempts to analyse empirically their use during cyclones in a sample study area along the southwest coastal belt of the country. It shows how the location of a cyclone shelter can determine the social power structure in coastal Bangladesh. The results reveal that the establishment of cyclone shelters in the studied communities is determined by neither a right‐based nor a demand‐based planning approach; rather, their creation is dependent on the socio‐political affluence of local‐level decision‐makers. The paper goes on to demonstrate that socially vulnerable households (defined, for example, by income or housing conditions) are afforded disproportionately less access to cyclone shelters as compared to less socially vulnerable households.     

The 1998 Flood in Bangladesh: Is Different Targeting Needed During Emergencies and Recovery to Tackle Malnutrition?

Bangladesh suffered the century's worst flood during July-October 1998 and appealed for assistance. To provide information for appropriate interventions to tackle nutritional problems, a rapid assessment survey was conducted to look at the nutritional situation, problems encountered by the community, their coping mechanisms and rehabilitation priorities in six rural areas. The survey was repeated after four months to measure the outcome of activities during the flood and the necessity for future assistance. There were 3,048 children measured in both surveys (1,597 and 1,451). The sample of most interest was a sub-group of 180 children present in two previous independent surveys. The analysis found that while moving from the crisis period to post-flood phase there was evidence of a 'crossover phenomenon' in the recovery pattern of nutritional status. Sixty-eight per cent of the children who were malnourished (WHZ < -2SD) during the crisis period (18 per cent) recovered enough to cross the cut-off point and became normal after four months. Another 8 per cent of children (9 per cent of all normal) who were normal during the crisis period, after four months had deteriorated to be malnourished. Thus, despite there being a shift in the overall distribution of nutritional status, there has been another shift that reduced the net effect. Subsequent episodes of diarrhoea, access to food and loan burden had also influenced the recovery pattern of the children's nutritional status as evident from the statistically significant associations. These findings raise questions about targeting acute malnutrition during emergencies, and using the same criteria during both the crisis and rehabilitation phases.     

The role of microcredit in reducing women's vulnerabilities to multiple disasters

This article explores the relationship between microcredit and vulnerability reduction for women-headed households in'multiple disasters'. Here multiple disasters are understood as disasters that occur in one specific place and cause severe devastation. The case study covers the super-cyclone in 1999, floods in 2001 and 2003, and drought in 2002 in Orissa, India. The study entailed eight months fieldwork and interviews with several governmental and non-governmental officials and 12 women-headed households from different social castes. The findings suggest that microcredit is a useful tool to replace women's livelihood assets that have been lost in multiple disasters. But inefficient microcredit delivery can cause microdebts and exacerbate caste, class and gender inequalities. It is posited that microcredit delivery cannot achieve vulnerability reduction for women in multiple disasters unless it is complemented by effective financial services, integrated policy planning and disaster management between government, non-governmental organisations and the community.     

Moderating effects of empathic concern and personal distress on the emotional reactions of disaster volunteers

This study examines stress and mood outcomes in community volunteers who undertook one week's worth of post‐disaster relief work in L'Aquila, Italy, which had been hit by an earthquake four months earlier. The study team obtained pre‐ and post‐relief work data from 130 volunteers involved in activities such as preparing food for the displaced, cleaning the camps and distributing clean linen. The Perceived Stress Scale, the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Profile of Mood States were administered at the start and at the end of the aid activities. Psychopathological symptoms and empathy were assessed in the beginning, using the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, respectively. The results show that, following the assistance work, volunteers displayed decreases in perceived stress, general distress, anxiety and anger, as well as increases in positive emotions. The empathy facets empathic concern and personal distress showed different patterns in modulating the post‐disaster relief work adaptation for some of the mood outcomes.     

Concerns and future preparedness plans of a vulnerable population in New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy

Knowing how people prepare for disasters is essential to developing resiliency strategies. This study examined recalled concerns, evacuation experiences, and the future preparedness plans of a vulnerable population in New Jersey, United States, following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Understanding the responses of minority communities is key to protecting them during forthcoming disasters. Overall, 35 per cent of respondents were not going to prepare for an event. Intended future preparedness actions were unrelated to respondents' ratings of personal impact. More Blacks and Hispanics planned on preparing than Whites (68 versus 55 per cent), and more Hispanics planned on evacuating than did others who were interviewed. A higher percentage of respondents who had trouble getting to health centres were going to prepare than others. Respondents' concerns were connected to safety and survival, protecting family and friends, and having enough food and medicine, whereas future actions included evacuating earlier and buying sufficient supplies to shelter in place.     

Rural residents and choice of building earthquake-resistant house: results of a choice experiment study

Rural settlements, especially in developing countries, are disproportionally vulnerable to natural hazards due to both biophysical and social vulnerability. Building hazard-resistant houses requires a thorough understanding of hazards and institutional and financial resources. However, it is equally important for planners and policymakers to know how rural residents make the tradeoff between various housing attributes when provided with the resources such as low-interest housing construction loans. In this study, we use a choice experiment (CE) to examine rural households' preference for earthquake resistance when building houses. A total of 300 households from randomly selected villages in central districts of Guilan Province in Iran were recruited for a CE study in which they had to choose between a number of houses that differed in terms of the required construction loan, resistance to earthquakes, size, and exterior and interior designs. Our results show that the average resident preferred larger houses with better exterior and interior designs to more earthquake-resistant houses, and is willing to spend more on these attributes than earthquake safety. These results indicate that rural households are willing to receive loans to improve their houses but that this does not translate into more earthquake-resistant houses.     

The Impact of a Reduced and Uncertain Food Supply in Three Besieged Cities of Bosnia-Hercegovina

Nutritional status and household food security were longitudinally monitored in three besieged cities of Bosnia-Hercegovina (Sarajevo, Zenica and Tuzla) during the winter and spring of 1993 to 1994. The objectives were to provide early warning of a deterioration in the food and nutrition situation and identify particularly vulnerable groups so that action could be taken to prevent potential undernutrition and target resources to the most needy. Before the cease-fire, which came into effect at the end of February 1994, trends in various indicators (weight loss, decline of household food stocks, rising food prices, reduction in food aid distribution, sale of possessions) suggested that the situation was deteriorating. Access to food improved as a result of the cease-fire, however, which was reflected in improvements in indicators of food security and weight gain. The impact of, and response to, the food emergency differed between individuals, households and locations; the elderly were found to be more nutritionally vulnerable than children or adults, households with the least access to resources were the most food insecure, while the city of Zenica appeared to be particularly hard hit. The findings show the effects of an uncertain and reduced food supply on a previously well-fed healthy population in an industrialised country. The value and constraints of an Early Warning System set up to monitor trends in an emergency in a European context are discussed.     

Home buyouts and household recovery: neighborhood differences three years after Hurricane Sandy

Home buyout programs facilitate the permanent relocation of residents away from areas considered to be at risk from future hazards, though few studies have examined the impacts of home buyout programs on affected households and communities beyond the program implementation period. In this paper, we examine between-neighborhood variation in key recovery indicators for three neighborhoods that followed different paths to recovery after Hurricane Sandy: one that rebuilt in situ, one that participated in a buyout and relocated, and one located immediately adjacent to the buyout zone. Three years post-disaster, buyout participants are faring worse in terms of place attachment and social capital compared to residents in the other two neighborhoods, while the neighborhood adjacent to the buyout zone is also showing signs of decline. These findings suggest that the social costs of buyouts extend well into the recovery period, and that the place-based ties and social networks that would typically help individuals cope with disaster impacts and persevere through adversity may be diminished for buyout participants, ultimately hindering their recovery. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of buyouts on participating and affected communities, as well as implications for research and policy.     

Epidemiological assessment of food aid in the Bosnian conflict, 1994-97

Surveys in emergency settings are important for the accountability of food aid. Four household surveys conducted between 1994 and 1997 measured the performance of the Bosnia food aid programme, covering a random sample of clusters in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republica Srpska. The team calculated coverage, exclusion and inclusion errors, programme misses, and under-supply. Despite intended universal coverage from 1994-96, 15, 19, and 31 per cent, respectively, did not receive food across the three-year time frame. Households categorised as vulnerable were somewhat more likely to receive food. Programme misses were rare, whereas under-supply fell from 30 per cent in 1994 to four per cent in 1997, as the availability of other food increased. Extrapolation suggested that 61 per cent of the food distributed did not reach households. The programme introduced priority categories for targeting in 1997, yet nearly one-half of the highest priority households did not receive food. Incomplete coverage and weak targeting were related to political constraints.     

The role of natural disaster in individual and relational adjustment in Sri Lankan mothers following the 2004 tsunami

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between maternal mental health distress symptoms, including depression and post‐traumatic stress disorder, the extent to which the presence of a child's disaster‐related physical health problem(s) have interfered with daily functioning, and family cohesion over time among Sri Lankan mothers who survived the tsunami on 26 December 2004. Study variables were measured using a self‐report questionnaire administered approximately four months after the event and three years later in summer 2008. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted. Path analysis was employed to assess the relationships between the key variables over time and the correlations in the study variables at each time point. Among other findings, the results of the path analysis indicated that post‐traumatic stress symptom distress four months after the disaster significantly predicted variance in family cohesion three years later. Clinical and empirical research implications are presented and discussed.     

Kabrit ki gen twòp mèt: understanding gaps in WASH services in Haiti's IDP camps

Despite the enormous infusion of post‐quake aid to Haiti, cholera had killed more than 8,000 people by January 2013. Based on two mixed‐method studies of a random sample of 108 internally displaced person (IDP) camps and 168 interviews with agency representatives and recipients, this article examines the prevalence of factors that have proven most relevant to the rapid spread of cholera, particularly the provision of water and sanitation services in IDP camps. The study reveals that 30% of IDP camps had no toilets and 40% had no access to water before the outbreak, with only minimal progress after three months. Using bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses, this article explores patterns in the gaps of services with a range of variables such as NGO camp management, municipality and landowners. It offers several theoretical and policy explanations for low level of services, concluding with a series of recommendations for better coordination and management.     

Superstorm Sandy and the academic achievement of university students

Much of the literature on the consequences of natural disasters has focused on their physical and psychological ramifications. Few researchers have considered how the impacts of a natural disaster can influence academic achievement. This study analyses data collected from nearly 300 students at a mid‐sized, private university in the northeast United States to determine if the effects of Cyclone Sandy in 2012 are associated with measures of academic achievement. The findings reveal that experiencing headaches after the event resulted in a higher likelihood of students suffering a loss of academic motivation. In addition, experiencing headaches and a loss of academic motivation were correlated with a lower grade point average (GPA) during the semester in which Sandy made landfall. However, the more direct effects of the superstorm, including displacement and a loss of power, did not have a significant bearing on academic achievement. Lastly, the paper examines the implications for higher education policy and future research.     

Disaster risk from a macroeconomic perspective: a metric for fiscal vulnerability evaluation

The Disaster Deficit Index (DDI) measures macroeconomic and financial risk in a country according to possible catastrophic scenario events. Extreme disasters can generate financial deficit due to sudden and elevated need of resources to restore affected inventories. The DDI captures the relationship between the economic loss that a country could experience when a catastrophic event occurs and the availability of funds to address the situation. The proposed model utilises the procedures of the insurance industry in establishing probable losses, based on critical impacts during a given period of exposure; for economic resilience, the model allows one to calculate the country's financial ability to cope with a critical impact. There are limitations and costs associated with access to resources that one must consider as feasible values according to the country's macroeconomic and financial conditions. This paper presents the DDI model and the results of its application to 19 countries of the Americas and aims to guide governmental decision‐making in disaster risk reduction.     

Nutritional risk factors for older refugees

This study describes risk factors for poor nutrition among older Rwandan refugees. The most important areas of nutritional risk for older refugees are: physical ability and mobility; income and access to land; access to appropriate food rations; meeting basic needs such as water, fuel, shelter; equal access to essential services (food distribution, health services, mills, feeding programmes); and psycho-social trauma. Women and older elderly (> 70 years) are significantly more often in disadvantaged positions, such as having poor socio-economic status, poor health, poor mobility, lower food intake, diminished social status, respect and social network. Older refugees are at higher risk than younger refugees and at higher risk than older people in stable situations. They should remain in good nutritional and general health for their own well-being and that of their dependants. In addition to an adequate diet, a support network seems to be an important preventive aspect.     

The impact of drought on production, consumption and nutrition in southwestern kenya

In this paper I compare the effects of the 1984 drought on agricultural production, income, food consumption, and nutrition of farm and non-farm households in South Nyanza District, Kenya. Survey work covered the period 1984 to 1987. It was the late arrival of the long rains in spring 1984, rather than an absolute shortfall in rain, that caused most of the fluctuations in agricultural production. Agricultural households who were least affected by the drought were able to cope by increasing the amount of cultivated land and by relying more on coarse grain production. Coping strategies for the landless households in South Nyanza were more limited and this group of households therefore experienced greater fluctuations in income between the drought and non-drought periods than did most types of agricultural households. Surprisingly, changes in food consumption between the drought and non-drought periods were small for most households. In spite of differences in production, food availability and incomes, however, the health and nutritional status of pre-school-aged children was not significantly different in the two time periods. Differences in health and nutritional status appear to be influenced more by community-level health and sanitation factors than by differences in agricultural production and incomes in drought and non-drought years.