Individual relocation decisions after tornadoes: a multi‐level analysis

This study examines how multi‐level factors affected individuals' relocation decisions after EF4 and EF5 (Enhanced Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale) tornadoes struck the United States in 2013. A telephone survey was conducted with 536 respondents, including oversampled older adults, one year after these two disaster events. Respondents' addresses were used to associate individual information with block group‐level variables recorded by the American Community Survey. Logistic regression revealed that residential damage and homeownership are important predictors of relocation. There was also significant interaction between these two variables, indicating less difference between homeowners and renters at higher damage levels. Homeownership diminished the likelihood of relocation among younger respondents. Random effects logistic regression found that the percentage of homeownership and of higher income households in the community buffered the effect of damage on relocation; the percentage of older adults reduced the likelihood of this group relocating. The findings are assessed from the standpoint of age difference, policy implications, and social capital and vulnerability.     

Ethnicity,income, and disaster preparedness in Deep South Texas,United States

This paper examines the influence of a series of demographic and socioeconomic factors on preparedness outcomes for a sample of residents of the Rio Grande Valley in the southernmost part of Texas, United States. Data were collected as part of the regional Pulse of the Valley Study, a general social survey of south Texas residents conducted by the Center for Survey Research at the University of Texas‐Rio Grande Valley. The purpose of this investigation is to understand better the effects of ethnicity and income on preparedness within a region of the US that suffers from widespread poverty and limited infrastructure and is prone to flooding and hurricanes. Taken together, the results suggest that while age, disaster experience, and income are associated with preparedness, the relationship between preparedness and ethnicity remains complex. Furthermore, policymakers should consider initiatives that address the socioeconomic and other issues that shape preparedness for a disaster.     

Understanding the causes of vulnerabilities for enhancing social-physical resilience: lessons from the Wenchuan earthquake

ABSTRACT

In an effort to understand the social-physical vulnerabilities from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, this research established and validated a conceptual model for natural disaster analysis. The earthquake severely impacted the built environment, with many buildings being destroyed in the earthquake and from secondary impacts. This vulnerable environment exacerbated the poverty in the local residents because of the lack of flat land and the inaccessibility of the mountainous areas. Therefore, there was an interactive relationship between the built environment vulnerability and the social vulnerability. Due to general poverty and low education levels, social vulnerability in rural areas is often the result of poor quality building construction; in the event of an earthquake, therefore, most economic losses and casualties are the result of building destruction. To enhance social-physical resilience, measures should be adopted to mitigate the vulnerability of the built environment and society through actions such as land use planning, the use of seismic-resistant technologies, and investment in infrastructure, education, industrial development, and environmental protection. This research extracts the reasons for the vulnerabilities through an examination of the interactions between the natural environment, the built environment, and the local society. The insights gained have significant theoretical and practical implications in assisting vulnerable communities resist and adapt to natural hazards to achieve sustainable development.     

自然灾害情景下社区韧性研究评述

韧性社区代表了未来城乡建设发展的新方向,也是“风险社会”下“与灾共生”理念的具体实践。社区韧性的研究受到灾害学、社会学、地理学、城市规划学、管理学及工程学等多学科的关注。该文在查阅国内外研究文献的基础上,从灾害学视角对自然灾害情景下的社区韧性进行评述,梳理社区韧性的概念,介绍社区韧性相关概念模型,提出以衡量社区功能水平为核心的社区韧性动态模型。研究可为不同学科的社区韧性研究者们提供参考,也可为社区规划建设者提供实践建议。     

Livelihoods,precarity, and disaster vulnerability: Nicaragua and Hurricane Mitch

How livelihoods determine vulnerability to disasters is a recent topic of inquiry. Few quantitative works have been produced to date. The empirical analysis that follows draws on household‐level data available for Nicaragua, preceding and following Hurricane Mitch, a devastating Category 5 storm that made landfall in Central America in October 1998, to examine differentials in disaster recovery outcomes vis‐à‐vis household livelihood profiles. Livelihoods are distinguished according to economic sector along with ownership of productive means, a central mechanism of vulnerability under sociological labour frameworks. The findings indicate uneven recovery outcomes in relation to livelihoods. During the year immediately following the event, agricultural wage earners and agricultural owner‐producers experienced marked losses owing to the disaster, whereas business owners saw an improvement in condition. Analysis of long‐term recovery reveals that households reliant on agricultural wage employment exhibit lagged recovery relative to other livelihood profiles. The findings are discussed with respect to the dynamic pressures posed by contemporary developmental processes.     

Complexity,continuity and change: livelihood resilience in the Darfur region of Sudan

Darfur farming and pastoralist livelihoods are both adaptations to the environmental variability that characterises the region. This article describes this adaptation and the longer‐term transformation of these specialised livelihoods from the perspective of local communities. Over several decades farmers and herders have experienced a continuous stream of climate, conflict and other shocks, which, combined with wider processes of change, have transformed livelihoods and undermined livelihood institutions. Their well‐rehearsed specialist strategies are now combined with new strategies to cope. These responses help people get by in the short term but risk antagonising not only their specialist strategies but also those of others. A combination of factors has undermined the former integration between farming and pastoralism and their livelihood institutions. Efforts to build resilience in similar contexts must take a long‐term view of livelihood adaptation as a specialisation, and consider the implications of new strategies for the continuity and integration of livelihood specialisations.     

Conflict-induced displacement and involuntary resettlement in Colombia: putting Cernea's IRLR model to the test

This paper tests Cernea's (1997) impoverishment risks and livelihood reconstruction (IRLR) model in cases of conflict-induced displacement (CID). In applying the model to a situation involving internal conflict, the article illustrates the particular problems encountered by internally displaced people (IDPs) and policymakers charged to respond to them. The article searches for local interpretations of CID and resettlement through a comparative profile of two IDP settlements in Colombia: one urban, the other rural. It concludes that the IRLR model, when contextualised, provides a useful tool to identify and categorise risks of impoverishment and resettlement priorities. At the same time, however, the article demonstrates that the model insufficiently captures the root causes or causality of CID.     

Post‐Ike economic resilience along the Texas coast

The economic devastation resulting from recent natural disasters has spawned intense interest in programmes that promote regional resilience. The economic impacts of Hurricane Ike (September 2008) endured long beyond the storm's landfall, compounded by a national recession. This study analyses the pattern of post‐Ike industrial growth in eight coastal counties of Texas, United States, and identifies sources of resilience and potential drivers of recovery. The results indicate that post‐disaster growth patterns differ from established growth patterns. Levels of resilience vary across industrial sectors, and service sectors tend to lead a recovery. The resilience of the hotel and restaurant sector, for instance, suggests that the presence of relief workers might immunise certain sectors against a post‐disaster economic downturn. Besides the sectors that are generally resilient, each county has its own distinct sectors that, depending on the extent of the damage suffered, tend to perform strongly after a disaster, owing to the characteristics of the respective county's economy.     

Disaster governance and community resilience: reflections on Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan

Typhoon Morakot triggered flooding and mudslides in various areas and devastated Aboriginal villages located near areas under construction by the Water Diversion Project in Kaohsiung County. This paper examines the controversy surrounding Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan from the perspective of disaster governance. This study provides competing perspectives regarding who was responsible for causing the disaster. Post-disaster reconstruction initiatives by the government tend to adopt a technical approach to risk, and do not incorporate the complex social and cultural dimensions of vulnerability and sustainability. This perspective reflects misrecognition problems, and the lack of empowerment and participation in governance by residents, as well as their exclusion in decision making. Aboriginal civic groups have various methods of interacting with local residents to alleviate the suffering of survivors, promoting tribal culture and building resilient communities. This continuing development of social interactions and new forms of engagement will effectuate transformation and contribute to broader reflections on the Morakot disaster and social capability and building resilience.     

基于灾后恢复过程解析的城市韧性评价体系

为实现对城市韧性的有效评价,本论文在系统研究国际城市韧性评价体系的基础之上,结合中国城市发展的现状,基于对城市灾后实际恢复过程的系统考察,建立了基于恢复过程的城市韧性评价体系。该评价体系通过解析城市灾后恢复过程的四个阶段:救援阶段(Rescue)、避难阶段(Refuge)、重建阶段(Rebuild)、复兴阶段(Revival),从社区与人口(Community and Population)、政府与管理(Official Organization and Management)、住房与设施(Valuable Housing and Facilities)、经济与发展(Economy and Development)、环境与文化(Renewable Environment and Culture)共五个维度,以62项指标对城市的韧性进行系统分析。这一体系可以简称为城市韧性评价的ReCOVER体系,其中“Re”代表了城市恢复的四个阶段,COVER则分别代表了城市韧性的五个维度。进而以该体系为基础,对我国大陆31个省级行政区域的城市韧性进行了五个维度、四个阶段的实证研究,并对城市韧性的提升策略,给出了分析建议。