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The efficacy of the community response to flood hazards is closely intertwined with its social capital. Communities with high social capital (robust social networks and cohesive community bonds) are likely to have greater abilities in preparing for and dealing with flood hazards. Numerous studies have continuously emphasized the fundamental significance of social capital throughout all stages of disaster risk management. It is still not fully understood how social capital effectively conveys risks. The present study sought to look at the experiences of rural communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, with the specific objective of exploring the role of social capital in facilitating the comprehension and dissemination of risk alerts about flood hazards. This study used a comprehensive qualitative methodology, specifically semi-structured interviews, to investigate the local communities' perspectives and use of social capital or networks in the context of risk communication. A total of 48 participants, encompassing a range of backgrounds, including social workers, community leaders, and elders, were engaged in face-to-face interviews. The data that was gathered were then grouped according to specific themes. The researchers utilized the interpretive analysis approach to understand better how the participants interpreted and comprehended the situation within the larger social and institutional framework. The research findings revealed four primary themes: the interpretation and dissemination of risk messages through social networks, the role of community social service connections in accessing social capital and risk information, the negative consequences of social capital maldistribution, and the limitations of social connectedness. The study's results revealed that many individuals impacted by flood hazard's lack access to strong social networks, which may hinder their capacity to obtain and understand information regarding potential risks. The efficient use of hazard alerts, customized to accommodate varied groups' unique interactive and cultural requirements, requires a collaborative and inclusive approach involving several stakeholders, including community people. Implementing this method is paramount in addressing and reducing socioeconomic inequalities within the natural hazards and disaster preparedness framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of flood damage caused by dam failures is typically performed deterministically on the basis of a single preselected scenario, neglecting uncertainties in dam-break parameters, exposure information, and vulnerability model. This paper proposes a probabilistic flood damage model for the estimation of life loss due to dam-break flooding with the aim of overcoming this limitation and performing a more comprehensive and informative evaluation of flood risk. The significant novelty lies in the fact that the model combines uncertainties associated with all three components of risk: hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Uncertainty in flood hazard is introduced by considering a set of dam-break scenarios, each characterized by different breach widths and reservoir levels. Each scenario is linked to a probability, which is assumed conditional on the dam-break event. Uncertainty in exposure is accounted for using dasymetric maps of the population at risk for two socio-economic states (representing business and non-business hours of a typical week), along with associated likelihood. Vulnerability to flooding is described through a well-established empirical hazard-loss function relating the fatality rate of the population at risk to the flood hazard, the flood severity understanding, and the warning time; a confidence band provides quantitative information about the associated uncertainty. The probabilistic damage model was applied to the case study of the hypothetical collapse of Mignano concrete gravity dam (northern Italy). The main outcome is represented by probabilistic flood damage maps, which show the spatial distribution of selected percentiles of a loss-of-life risk index coupled with the corresponding uncertainty bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the resistance of urban agglomeration against rainstorm-induced disasters has become a more urgent mission for the construction of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). But, few studies have focused on the rainstorm disaster chains at the scale of urban agglomeration. In view of this, in this study, we investigate the classification, mechanism, probability, variation and risk of rainstorm disaster chains in the GBA by using the meteorological observation, physical geography, land-use, socioeconomic and disaster loss data during 1990–2018. The results show that the rainstorms can lead to many disaster chains in the GBA, such as flash flood, riverine flood, debris flow/landslide, urban waterlogging and agricultural waterlogging. Among them, the urban waterlogging disaster chain has the highest probability to occur. Furthermore, these disaster chains are influenced and exacerbated by each other, leading to cascading effects. Since the twenty-first century, the frequency of urban waterlogging has increased and becomes the most prominent rainstorm-induced disaster, while flash flood, riverine flood and debris flow/landslide decreased. The rainstorm disaster loss index in the GBA shows a significant increasing trend (p < 0.05) during 1990–2018. By jointly considering the rainstorm hazard, the exposure of disaster-bearing bodies and the sensitivity of disaster-pregnant environment, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing and Huizhou rank the top three in the frequency of rainstorm disaster chains, and Zhaoqing ranks the first in disaster loss index. In addition, the areas with high rainstorm disaster risk level increase with the augmentation of return period. Guangzhou, Zhaoqing and Shenzhen are at high-risk level for the rainstorm disasters with 10-year and 20-year return periods. We hope that this study can provide a scientific reference for the rainstorm disaster risk management in the GBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate and environmental changes in the Global South have devastating effects on vulnerable populations, which have been perpetuated by socio-economic and political as well as gender inequalities and non-existent interventions to adapt and mitigate its adverse effects. Underpinned by the Protection Motivation Theory and Social-Cognitive Preparation model, this systematic literature review article depicts how vulnerable populations are impacted by climate change in the Global South. Using the empirical data from credible databases including the Web of Science and Scopus, 23 articles published since 2018 were searched, retrieved, coded, and classified with three themes emerging from the synthesised literature. The analysis of the literature confirms that climate change indeed impacts vulnerable populations adversely; the adaptability mechanisms are not applied by governments which are contrary to the international frameworks; and lastly, that such groups are discriminated against, undermined, and overlooked in societal programmes and interventions to mitigate the impacts of climate-induced disasters. Climate change impacts have severely destroyed the livelihoods of vulnerable populations and are exacerbated by socio-economic and political inequalities, with the adaptation and mitigation mechanisms deemed ineffective. Gaps in current research studies include the paucity of empirical data shedding light on the interventions provided for sexual gender-based violence victims and punitive actions issued against the perpetrators during and in the aftermath of the climate-induced disasters. There is also scant empirical data testing the adaptation and mitigation mechanisms' effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of natural hazards on nations and societies is a global challenge and concern. Worldwide, studies have been conducted within and between countries, to examine the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of fatalities and their impact on societies. In Brazil, no studies have comprehensively identified the fatalities associated with all natural hazards and their specificities by decade, region, sex, age, and other victim characteristics. This study carries out an in-depth analysis of the Brazilian Mortality Data of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, from 1979 to 2019, identifying the natural hazards that kill the most people in Brazil and their particularities. Lightning is the deadliest natural hazard in Brazil during this period, with a gradual decrease in the number of fatalities. The number of hydro-meteorological fatalities increases from 2000 onwards, with the highest number of fatalities occurring between 2010 and 2019. Although Brazil is a tropical country affected by severe droughts, extreme heat has the lowest number of fatalities compared to other natural hazards. The period from December to March has a higher number of fatalities, and the southeast is the most populous region where most people die. The number of male victims is twice as high as the number of female victims, across all ages groups, and unmarried victims are the most likely to die. It is therefore essential to recognize and disseminate the knowledge about the impact of different natural hazards on communities and societies, namely on people and their livelihoods, in order to assess the challenges and identify opportunities for reducing the effects of natural hazards in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to conduct a systematic analysis of scientific articles from a social sciences perspective that focus on the role of women as active subjects during an emergency, particularly in terms of evacuation actions in the aftermath of disasters of natural origin. The methology used in the present literature review was designed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. The databases used were Web of Science and SCOPUS. This systematic review comprises the 25 articles which met our selection criteria out of the 63,852 studies initially found in the search. Although the progressive incorporation of a gender perspective can be seen in the academic study of disasters within the field of social sciences, the scientific production, especially with reference to the emergency phase, remains scant. The current literature reveals the importance of taking into account the knowledge women have, as well as how they behave following a disaster of natural origin. The results of the analysis carried out demonstrate that in making visible how gender roles operate during the early response period in an emergency, especially in relation to the role played by women as active subjects, the traditional notion of rescue is extended. On the basis of this analysis, recommendations are made which can facilitate an approach to disaster risk management that guarantees gender equality in an emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how sociodemographics, risk perception, and prior experience affected typhoons' disaster preparedness and emergency response. A total of 286 valid questionnaires were obtained from a typhoon-prone district in Hong Kong. The results indicated that sociodemographics, risk perception, and prior experience explained significant amounts of variances in protective behaviors. Among these variables, risk perception was found to be the most powerful predictor and it mediated the effects of prior experience on disaster preparedness and emergency response toward typhoons. Furthermore, disaster preparedness initiated emergency response toward typhoons, indicating the spillover of protective behaviors. The paper contributes to the knowledge body by providing a better understanding of the process and mechanism of the performance of protective behaviors. Furthermore, this study may provide insights into improving typhoon management in Hong Kong as well as other coastal cities in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, the tropical cyclonic storm Amphan smashes seriously 8 southwestern coastal districts in Bangladesh, which set off socioeconomic effects as far as vulnerability and capacity settings. This investigation means to evaluate the vulnerability and capacity of Shyamnagar Upazila, Bangladesh's most storm-influenced region, to the latest extremely serious cyclonic tempest 'Amphan.' Following 14–20 days of its effect, this examination led a household study in the four unions (Shyamnagar, Bhurulia, Gabura and Paddapukur) of Shyamnagar Upazila, which is situated in the most southern part of Satkhira area. Questionnaire addresses sorted into Social & Human, Physical and Financial indicators; these comparing indicators were selected through literature review and little changed dependent on nearby situations. An aggregate of 22 vulnerability indicators and 26 capacity indicators were utilized to decide their indexes. The outcome demonstrates that total vulnerability overweighs the total capacity in the considered region during Amphan. Definitely, the region was more vulnerable dependent on Physical variables, while more capable for the cyclone with regard to Social & Human variables. The acknowledge of these results will likewise assist the public authority with facilitating improve its calamity the board plan with critical infrastructural adjustment featured in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency and intensity of natural disasters have been increasing in recent decades; especially earthquakes are one of the causes of major natural disasters. Improving community adaptive response to disasters based on community capacity has gradually become an effective means of coping with disaster risks, as well as improving residents' well-being and community participation in disaster planning and management. We integrate community resilience and disaster management to establish an evaluation framework for community-based earthquake disaster management (CEDM) based on community perspectives under importance performance analysis method, and identify the factors affecting community adaptive behavior. Features that affect the differentiation of community residents' adaptive behavior in CEDM program are classified into risk perception, learning earthquake knowledge, the ability on earthquake prevention, and creating a platform on CEDM. The results identify that the CEDM has to integrate the higher community education plan, the stronger flexible to disaster preparedness, the higher the residents' awareness of disaster prevention, the stronger the ability to adapt to disasters; the higher the ability of the government and non-profit organizations to cooperate with the community to deal with disasters, and the stronger the community's ability to manage disasters. These findings provide valuable insights into the construction of CEDM systems and related policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate environmental injustice and analyze flood vulnerability characteristics in consideration of environmental justice and urban flood disaster prevention planning. We investigated various physical and non-physical urban disaster prevention factors to prevent urban flooding and applied them to the urban development process in Seoul from an environmental justice perspective. Flood risk areas were identified, and flood damage data from 2000 to 2018 were collected. Furthermore, a panel analysis was performed and the final model was selected. The flood vulnerability characteristics were found to be detached houses having basements, aged detached houses, land area for detached houses, public assistance recipients, and population aged 65 years or above, which had impact factors of 8.323, 3.781, -2.877, 3.257, and 2.637, respectively. The results indicate that not only the socially vulnerable population lacked the ability to respond to floods, but buildings and areas with poor residential environments also suffered from flood damage. This implies that there was socioeconomically disproportionate exposure (termed as environmental injustice) in the process of urban flood prevention planning and urban development. Our results can contribute qualitatively and quantitatively to preparing a flood prevention plan based on environmental justice paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The haor region of Bangladesh is exposed to a variety of natural hazards such as flash floods, seasonal floods, droughts, riverbank erosion, embankment breach due to climate change, which impacts the haor people's lives and livelihoods. Haor households are attempting to diversify their livelihood activities to protect themselves from such extreme climate events. The study's aim to evaluate the various livelihood strategies adopted by haor households, and multinomial logistic regression is employed to identify the factors influencing their decision to pursue more eco-friendly and sustainable livelihood strategies. A multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 300 haor households in Kishoreganj, Netrokona, and Sunamganj districts, with 100 from each district. We provide inimitable insight into the analysis to understand how livelihood resources, livelihood strategies, and livelihood outcomes are closely tied in the framework for sustainable rural livelihoods. The study classified a household's economic activities into five distinct categories, together with crop farming. Among the livelihood options, crop plus livestock rearing is the most productive livelihood strategy for haor households. The findings revealed that the household's head age and education, dependency ratio, land holdings, household assets value, access to credit, annual income, membership of any organization, home to road, market, and haor distances, communication during the dry season, duration of waterlogged, and agro-ecology of the haor ecosystem all have a significant impact on the choice of higher returning livelihood diversification strategies. Policies should attempt to promote the significant determinants of livelihood strategies choice, as well as should ensure livelihood assets, a strong infrastructure, and minimize natural hazards, in order to transform the local context and enable poor households to build more profitable livelihood strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate catastrophe insurance is an important tool for advancing China's comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation efforts and an important part of modernizing China's national emergency management capabilities. Based on the understanding of the definition of catastrophe and China's climate catastrophe, this paper systematically analyzes the main problems and challenges faced by China's climate catastrophe risk management and elaborates on the characteristics of the current opportunities for the development of China's climate catastrophe insurance. The paper then summarizes the development features of international catastrophe insurance systems, compares the features of the Shenzhen and Ningbo pilots of catastrophe insurance in China, and proposes key focus points for the meteorological department to participate in climate catastrophe insurance. Finally, this paper proposes measures to enhance climate catastrophe insurance in China in future from the development of international catastrophe insurance and China's climate catastrophe pilot work. Firstly, consider the whole process of comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation concept and play the role of the government and the market and other multi-body, to explore the construction of the catastrophe insurance system. Secondly, establish a special or comprehensive catastrophe insurance fund. Thirdly, promote the formation of public–private partnership sharing mechanism. Fourthly, the government should provide appropriate legal and policy support. Fifthly, use the market mechanisms to reduce government pressure on public finances in catastrophe insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tornadoes are considered the most extreme manifestation of severe weather, and they are classified as a potentially disastrous phenomenon. In Mexico, tornadoes are common, but they have not received particular attention until recent years because of the socioeconomic impacts derived from significant events. Tornadoes are one of the few natural phenomena in Mexico that do not have an associated risk mapping, as is already the case for other meteorological threats. The present investigation aims to fill this gap by introducing a tornado risk assessment in Mexico using a GIS-based approach. To this end, the risk components—hazard, vulnerability, and exposure—are examined. Tornado hazard was calculated by combining historical tornado reports with potentially severe convective environments computed from the ERA5 dataset. Tornado vulnerability was addressed by the construction of socioeconomic indicators and a multivariate statistical method application. The resulting values were used to define a weighted index based on five main driving factors affecting vulnerability. Exposure was determined using population density. Every subsequent index was added at the municipality level and allowed the computation of a Tornado Risk Index. The results show diverse spatial patterns associated with the three risk components and the risk itself. This first attempt to assess the tornado risk in Mexico exposes relevant information about the natural phenomena and the societal components based on vulnerability and exposure effects. The results can be used to support diverse programs related to integrated risk management for tornadoes in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tsunamis pose a substantial threat to coastal communities around the globe. To counter their effects, several hard and soft mitigation measures are applied, the choice of which essentially depends on regional expectations, historical experiences and economic capabilities. These countermeasures encompass hard measures to physically prevent tsunami impacts such as different types of seawalls or offshore breakwaters, as well as soft measures such as long-term tsunami hazard assessment, tsunami education, evacuation plans, early-warning systems or coastal afforestation. Whist hard countermeasures generally aim at reducing the inundation level and distance, soft countermeasures focus mainly on enhanced resilience and decreased vulnerability or nature-based wave impact mitigation. In this paper, the efficacy of hard countermeasures is evaluated through a comprehensive literature review. The recent large-scale tsunami events facilitate the assessment of performance characteristics of countermeasures and related damaging processes by in-situ observations. An overview and comparison of such damages and dependencies are given and new approaches for mitigating tsunami impacts are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing vulnerability is vital for developing new strategies and improving the existing ones to fulfill contemporary demands toward achieving a disaster-resilient society. Dammar Char is situated in the southeastern (SE) coastal region of Bangladesh that has experienced frequent coastal hazards and disasters throughout the year. The present study has constructed a vulnerability index utilizing the quantitative and qualitative data based on household surveys to evaluate the vulnerability of the people and community of Dammar Char. Data were collected from 180 respondents during November–December 2018. The results demonstrate that, on average, the people living in the studied area have a high vulnerability (value of the vulnerability index 0.7015) to coastal hazards and disasters. The vulnerability level differs from individual to individual based on their gender, educational status, financial capacity, structural strength of houses, perception of the respective hazards and disasters, etc. Females have experienced more vulnerability than their adult male counterparts. The natural vulnerability was higher than socioeconomic and physical vulnerability due to the increase in unpredictable extreme climate-induced coastal events. To combat the adverse impacts of coastal hazards and disasters, the local Dammar Char inhabitants have adopted several adaptation measures. The adapted measures are homestead gardening, working in seasonal day labor, fish drying, rearing sheep, and ducks, constructing plinths for elevating the floor of the house, extensive banana cultivation, and storage of dry foods to reduce their vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to the growing literature highlighting the significance of assessing risk and vulnerability, micro-level perceptions and adaptation decision-making in building resilience of farm communities to climate change in dryland region of India. To select a region for grassroots enquiry, spatial differential in risk to climate change was assessed in Rajasthan, using IPCC AR5 framework. Among the highly vulnerable and risky districts, Bikaner district was selected for elicitation of micro-level imperatives. Rising atmospheric temperature, inter-seasonal displacements of rainfall and recurrence of extreme events were perceived by the farmers resulting in resource degradation, production risks and erosion of households' socio-economic dynamics. As risk preventive measures, suitable adjustment in agricultural practices, natural resource management, shift to off-farm activities and other relief measures were adopted by the farmers. Farmer's choice of adaptation was influenced by several climatic, socio-economic and infrastructural & institutional factors in varying degree. Moreover, several financial, economic, infrastructural and informational bottlenecks to adaptations were reported during household survey and FGDs. The results suggest that capturing grassroots evidence is crucial for directing locally tailored adaptation strategies, along with the improving deficiencies in the developmental pathways for climate-resilient agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of non-DRR NGOs' programs focusing on their contribution to the uplift livelihood of the disaster-affected coastal communities. Researchers conducted an empirical study in Satkhira, the most disaster-prone coastal district of Bangladesh, and interviewed 45 respondents, including NGO officials, local government bodies, and community beneficiaries, applying purposive sampling. For analyzing data, Researchers used thematic analysis methods with NVivo software's assistance. Study findings reveal that NGOs' community-based awareness and advocacy, mobilization of local resources, and primary healthcare programs contributed to enhancing community livelihood by promoting their attitudes and capacities to cope with disasters. However, their microfinance and infrastructure-related programs reinforced community vulnerability and exposure to disaster by increasing poverty, exclusion, and disparities among them. In conclusion, the study signifies the value of integrating sustainable infrastructure, environmental impact assessment on health and agriculture for promoting effective livelihood strategies in coastal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is evident with the extreme climatic indices changing all over the world. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The patterns of climatic hazards here are changing with time. Such changes inevitably affect the life and livelihood of people. Focusing on this background, this study was conducted to assess the spatial variability of climatic multi-hazards in Bangladesh in relation to the extreme climate indices. To achieve the objective of this study, hydro-climatic data for the past 31 years (1990–2020) were collected from 27 stations of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Fifteen climate indices were calculated using the "RClimDex" software. The principle component analysis was used for assigning weightage to the selected indices as well as for the multi-hazard assessment. Using the indices, multi-hazard maps were prepared for the extreme rainfall, extreme temperature, and combined hazard (both rainfall and temperature). The multi-hazard maps identified the northeastern and southeastern parts of Bangladesh as high rainfall affected area, while the southwestern parts were revealed to be exposed to high temperature related hazards. The combined hazard map revealed most of the northern and southern region of the country to be in the "High" or "Moderate" extreme climate hazard zone categories. The findings are particularly alarming as the northern region has a high percentage of net cropped area falling in the high climate hazard zone. The findings of this study can guide the policy makers and academics from national to local level to develop and prioritize climate resilient programs based on the location-specific climatic hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complex characteristics of drought, drought risk needs to be quantified by combining drought vulnerability and drought hazard. Recently, the major focus in drought vulnerability has been on how to calculate the weights of indicators to comprehensively quantify drought risk. In this study, principal component analysis (PCA), a Gaussian mixture model (GMM), and the equal-weighting method (EWM) were applied to objectively determine the weights for drought vulnerability assessment in Chungcheong Province, located in the west-central part of South Korea. The PCA provided larger weights for agricultural and industrial factors, whereas the GMM computed larger weights for agricultural factors than did the EWM. The drought risk was assessed by combining the drought vulnerability index (DVI) and the drought hazard index (DHI). Based on the DVI, the most vulnerable region was CCN9 in the northwestern part of the province, whereas the most drought-prone region based on the DHI was CCN12 in the southwest. Considering both DVI and DHI, the regions with the highest risk were CCN12 and CCN10 in the southern part of the province. Using the proposed PCA and GMM, we validated drought vulnerability using objective weighting methods and assessed comprehensive drought risk considering both meteorological hazard and socioeconomic vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying and analyzing the urban–rural differences of social vulnerability to natural hazards is imperative to ensure that urbanization develops in a way that lessens the impacts of disasters and generate building resilient livelihoods in China. Using data from the 2000 and 2010 population censuses, this study conducted an assessment of the social vulnerability index (SVI) by applying the projection pursuit cluster model. The temporal and spatial changes of social vulnerability in urban and rural areas were then examined during China's rapid urbanization period. An index of urban–rural differences in social vulnerability (SVID) was derived, and the global and local Moran's I of the SVID were calculated to assess the spatial variation and association between the urban and rural SVI. In order to fully determine the impacts of urbanization in relation to social vulnerability, a spatial autoregressive model and Bivariate Moran's I between urbanization and SVI were both calculated. The urban and rural SVI both displayed a steadily decreasing trend from 2000 to 2010, although the urban SVI was always larger than the rural SVI in the same year. In 17.5% of the prefectures, the rural SVI was larger than the urban SVI in 2000, but was smaller than the urban SVI in 2010. About 12.6% of the urban areas in the prefectures became less vulnerable than rural areas over the study period, while in more than 51.73% of the prefectures the urban–rural SVI gap decreased over the same period. The SVID values in all prefectures had a significantly positive spatial autocorrelation and spatial clusters were apparent. Over time, social vulnerability to natural hazards at the prefecture-level displayed a gathering–scattering pattern across China. Though a regional variation of social vulnerability developed during China's rapid urbanization, the overall trend was for a steady reduction in social vulnerability in both urban and rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk and resilience assessments have been both widely, but separately, used as tools for guiding policymakers to formulate disaster-risk reduction policies. On the one hand, risk assessment is utilized to estimate the risk associated with disasters in terms of operational metrics such as monetary or casualties' loss; on the other hand, most resilience analysis assesses and represent community resilience as an index, without a specific unit metric, to gauge levels of disparity in community's post-disaster recovery capability among the areas of interest. Although disaster-risk reduction policies should be best informed by both risk and resilience assessments, an informative integrated assessment approach accounting for both seems to be lacked in current research, insofar as the difficulty in properly integrating their distinct measurement metrics. This paper commences with a literature review of risk assessment and community resilience. It then proposes an integrated framework that can comprehensively assess both seismic risk and resilience, by taking into account the casualties and economic losses associated with earthquakes resulted from a risk assessment, and the infrastructure-system resilience and community socioeconomic–demographic resilience resulted from a resilience assessment. More specifically, an integrated tool, risk-based resilience-concentration curve, is proposed for assessing the inequality of given types of risk in the community's infrastructure-system resilience, and socioeconomic–demographic resilience, respectively. A case study is presented using the data from a city in Israel: the first phase of the case study focused on the concentration of casualties' risk in community's infrastructure-system resilience, and the second on the concentration of economic risk in community's socioeconomic–demographic resilience. The results show that unevenly distributed risk and community resilience can cause inequality of risk in resilience capacity in certain administrative tracts of the city. Based on these findings, the paper recommends a range of risk-reduction strategies for different administrative tracts based on their risk-based resilience concentration curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. The appraisal of household vulnerability and capacity to adapt under climate change is therefore crucial for developing effective disaster risk reduction policies. This study explored the nexus between vulnerability and capacity of rural drought-prone households using survey data of 400 respondents from northern Bangladesh. Through extensive rigorous literature review, 22 and 25 indicators were employed to develop the vulnerability and capacity index, respectively. Co-occurrence network analysis was employed to show the nexus among different classes of capacity and vulnerability. Spearman correlation was also performed to analyze the nexus between vulnerability and capacity. The results reveal that households' vulnerability varies across livelihood assets (human, social, financial, physical, and natural), but capacity follows a similar distribution pattern. A significant negative association was found between vulnerability and adaptive capacity, whereas the strong correlations between social and human capital, human and financial capital, social and financial capital, and physical and natural capital were identified in this study. Future projection (up to 2024) using support vector machine algorithm shows that overall drought adaptive capacity will increase, while vulnerability will decrease. The outcomes of this study would help planners and policy-makers in planning and taking proper initiatives that might be useful for adopting efficient disaster risk reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building a culture of risk is an essential objective within the integrated risk management paradigm. Challenges arise both due to increasing damage from natural hazards and the complexity in interaction of different actors in risk management. In Switzerland, the Strategy for Natural Hazards Switzerland, aims to establish efficient protection of the population, natural resources and material goods. This requires that all responsible actors are recognized and aware of their role in risk management. However, previous studies indicate that risk awareness and preparedness levels are rather low within the general population. For the first time, our nationwide survey provides empirical data on factors that influence individual risk preparedness in the general population. Multivariate analysis shows that taking responsibility for natural hazard risk prevention is not only related to personal experience and perceived probability of hazard events, but also crucially influenced by social forms of communication and integration. Therefore, we conclude that social capacity building needs to include such factors in order to render integrated risk management strategies successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss and damage in an area after an earthquake is increased due to complex nature of awareness, knowledge and perception influencing vulnerability of exposed communities. In this regard, the objectives of this research are firstly to understand the existing condition and distinction among people's earthquake awareness, knowledge and their actualized perception in relation to their personal contexts and social capital and secondly to explore how such distinction influences earthquake vulnerability of the community. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to earthquake, where Mymensingh municipality is located in high earthquake hazard prone zone. In this regard, Ward no. 14 of Mymensingh municipality has been considered as the study area. For the purpose of this research, questionnaire survey of 700 sample households in the study area was carried out. The study reveals that in spite of lower participation in earthquake-related program, most residents are aware of earthquake vulnerability of the area. But such awareness encompasses very limited knowledge. In spite of such lack of knowledge, most of the residents have better perception and are willing to work as a volunteer. In contrary, people, especially the owners, are in denial of their own vulnerability. The awareness, knowledge and perception is higher among educated people and people having social interaction. The findings of this study should be considered to design awareness raising and capacity building programs to ensure their success with participation of local people and thereby implement community-based disaster management in the study area. This study has opportunity to be replicated in other areas of Bangladesh as well as other countries with necessary modifications considering respective contexts and other hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livelihood strategies that are crafted in 'extra-ordinary' post-disaster conditions should also be able to function once some semblance of normalcy has resumed. This article aims to show that the vulnerability experienced in relation to Typhoon Yolanda was, and continues to be, directly linked to inadequate livelihood assets and opportunities. We examine the extent to which various livelihood strategies lessened vulnerability post-Typhoon Yolanda and argue that creating conditions under which disaster survivors have the freedom to pursue sustainable livelihood is essential in order to foster resilience and reduce vulnerability against future disasters. We offer suggestions to improve future relief efforts, including suggestions made by the survivors themselves. We caution against rehabilitation strategies that knowingly or unknowingly, resurrect pre-disaster vulnerability. Strategies that foster dependency, fail to appreciate local political or ecological conditions or undermine cooperation and cohesion in already vulnerable communities will be bound to fail. Some of the livelihood strategies that we observed post-Typhoon Yolanda failed on some or all of these points. It is important for future policy that these failings are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of major natural disasters in recent years has impacted large cities worldwide and boosted the need of assessing urban resilience. As a key factor of resilience, vulnerability correlates attributes of communities with the level of damage caused by hazards. Although a large amount of studies has reviewed the assessment of vulnerability from the perspective of a particular hazard, the combined analysis involving all kind of hazards and vulnerability dimensions in the urban context is uncommon. This research provides a critical analysis of a selected sample of 72 contributions released from 1998 to 2018 and related to the appraisal of vulnerability, in order to determine their adequacy in the evaluation of urban vulnerability. The findings stemming from this process revealed that the social dimension was a priority, whilst qualitative components associated with risk awareness were slightly covered. Furthermore, multi-criteria decision analysis and weighting allocation were the most widely used techniques to address urban vulnerability, whilst 32 methodologies were bespoke built to be applied to particular locations. Most of the cases examined were oriented to specific hazards, with only 10 of them focused on multiple hazards. Hence, the results suggest the need for developing a new framework applicable to multiple hazards worldwide to bridge the identified gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of heavy rainfall in the south-eastern hilly region of Bangladesh makes this area highly susceptible to recurrent flash flooding. As the region is the commercial capital of Bangladesh, these flash floods pose a significant threat to the national economy. Predicting this type of flooding is a complex task which requires a detailed understanding of the river basin characteristics. This study evaluated the susceptibility of the region to flash floods emanating from within the Karnaphuli and Sangu river basins. Twenty-two morphometric parameters were used. The occurrence and impact of flash floods within these basins are mainly associated with the volume of runoff, runoff velocity, and the surface infiltration capacity of the various watersheds. Analysis showed that major parts of the basin were susceptible to flash flooding events of a 'moderate'-to-'very high' level of severity. The degree of susceptibility of ten of the watersheds was rated as 'high', and one was 'very high'. The flash flood susceptibility map drawn from the analysis was used at the sub-district level to identify populated areas at risk. More than 80% of the total area of the 16 sub-districts were determined to have a 'high'-to-'very-high'-level flood susceptibility. The analysis noted that around 3.4 million people reside in flash flood-prone areas, therefore indicating the potential for loss of life and property. The study identified significant flash flood potential zones within a region of national importance, and exposure of the population to these events. Detailed analysis and display of flash flood susceptibility data at the sub-district level can enable the relevant organizations to improve watershed management practices and, as a consequence, alleviate future flood risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood emergency management practices cover various aspects of flooding, such as demography, infrastructure, economy, transportation, and agriculture. Emergency managers and local authorities work to understand existing and potential impacts of flooding in their communities. HAZUS is one of the most widely used GIS-based desktop software packages designed to help emergency managers to simulate floods and observe their possible effects in their communities. Using HAZUS, emergency managers can prioritize regions to receive help, allocate resources, and plan mitigation measures in the disaster area. However, the system has limitations in terms of its technical requirements, the number of flood scenarios and data options, accessibility, and performance. In this study, we present an integrated and scalable web framework for HAZUS-MH flood loss estimation analysis. By taking advantage of the Iowa Flood Center's extensive flood inundation map repository for Iowa, we could enable interactive analysis between flood map raster and census data to demonstrate flooding impacts in Iowa communities. High-resolution pre-computed flood inundation maps allowed us to execute damage and loss analyses within seconds. Using visualization techniques on the web, users can access damage and loss analysis without specific software or technical expertise. Moreover, by connecting new data sources, we also enabled many different analyses through the web-based system, including agricultural damage and loss analysis and flooded transportation segments. The generalized architecture of the system allows the framework to analyze any region and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most dangerous challenges to settlements in the UK comes from flooding. Currently, there is extensive map coverage of flood hazards zones in the UK; however, it is increasingly recognised that risk associated with natural hazards cannot be reduced solely by focussing on the hazard. There is also an urgent need for methods of evaluating and mapping flood vulnerability and risk in detail. Despite its significance, conventional flood risk assessment methodologies often underestimate likely levels of vulnerability in areas prone to hazards, yet it is the degree of vulnerability within a community that determines the consequences of any given hazard. The research presented proposes a general methodology to assess and map Coastal Flood Vulnerability and Risk at a detailed, micro-scale level. This captures aspects that are considered crucial and representative of reality (socio-economic, physical and resilient features). The methodology is then applied to a UK case study (city of Portsmouth). Environment Agency flood hazard data, National Census socio-economic data and Ordnance Survey topographic map data have been used to evaluate and map coastal flood vulnerability, examining neighbourhoods within census wards. This led to a subsequent analysis of Coastal Flood Risk, via the combination of a Coastal Flood Vulnerability Index and a Coastal Flood Hazard Index, for the Portsmouth ward Hilsea. This, consequently, identifies potential weaknesses that could lead to more effective targeting of interventions to improve resilience and reduce vulnerability in the long term and provides a basis for hazard and environmental managers/planners to generate comprehensive national/international vulnerability and risk assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study deals with the gender aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) situation in post-cyclone Aila period in Bangladesh. Data were collected using participatory approaches like individual interview, key informant interview, focus group discussion and field level observation. Study reveals that after Aila, women had to travel 500 m–2 km per day to fetch water from safe water sources spending 30–90 min. People used pit and hanging latrines, uncovered water framed latrines as well as had open defecation. Considering the impromptu needs, government and other aid-giving agencies focused on immediate WaSH programme. The paper is an outcome of a critical assessment of those arduous efforts made to overcome the WaSH challenges after Aila, particularly women's role in and challenges faced by them to improving the situation. Also attempt has been made to examine the opportunities and challenges of sustainability of WaSH programme pursued in the post-disaster period. For recovery of the WaSH system, a two-part strategy was followed where one was to make technology (tubewell, pond and filter, saline purification and rainwater harvesting plants) that supporting social arrangement and another was social arrangement (group formation, capacity building on construction, operation and maintenance) that supporting technology. A techno-social contingent model has been followed for addressing the post-disaster WaSH situation following a WasH approach. Women's these roles in meeting the households' WaSH requirements might be called WaSH-feminism. The main finding is that although there was a technical challenge to overcome the water and sanitation crises, after the disaster a set of appropriate technologies could remove it considerably, but a corresponding social arrangement was required there to operate it. Many kinds of technical and social limiting factors were there for women that could be removed partly but not totally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the first ever Sea, Lake, Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) grid was built for the Yucatan Peninsula. The SLOSH model was used to simulate storm surges in the coastal area of the states of Yucatan and Campeche (Mexico). Based on climatology, more than 39,900 hypothetical hurricanes covering all possible directions of motion were synthesized. The storm intensity (category), forward speed, radius of maximum winds and the tide anomaly were varied for each hypothetical track. According to these scenarios, the potential storm surge and associated inundation threat were computed. Subsequently, the Maximum Envelope of Water (MEOW) and the Maximum of the MEOWs (MOMs) were calculated to assess the flood hazard induced by tropical cyclones under varying conditions. In addition, for each MOM, the socioeconomic vulnerability aspects were taken into account in order to assess the hurricane flood risk for the states of Yucatan and Campeche. Results show that the most vulnerable areas are the surroundings of Terminos lagoon, Campeche City and its neighboring areas in the state of Campeche. For Yucatan, the towns located in the Northwest (Celestun, Hunucma and Progreso) and the eastern part of the state presented the highest risk values. The methodology used in this study can be applied to other coastal zones of Mexico as well as places with similar attributes. Furthermore, the MEOW and MOM are very useful as a decision-making tool for prevention, preparedness, evacuation plans, mitigation of the flood hazard and its associated risk, and also for insurance companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article constitutes an effort towards providing an academic overview and grounding for the concept of capacities in the context of disaster studies and disaster risk reduction. Capacities refer to the set of diverse knowledge, skills and resources people can claim, access and resort to in dealing with hazards and disasters. They are both an individual and collective attributes. Everyone possesses a unique set of knowledge, skills and resources that are often shared and combined with those of relatives, kin, neighbours, etc. People's capacities are not necessarily place based, but they are endogenous to the community of people who share and combine them in dealing with the same hazards and disasters. They further reflect people's everyday life as it is very seldom that those affected by disasters resort to extraordinary measures to face harmful events. In practice, capacities allow for active prevention to avoid hazards to occur in the first place. They are further tapped to foster preparedness in facing impending hazards and respond to disasters. Capacities also prove invaluable in coping with the lingering effects of disasters and in recovering on the longer term. Harnessing capacities should therefore be an integral part of disaster risk reduction strategies as recognised in the widespread practice of vulnerability and capacity/ies assessment. Ultimately, harnessing capacities for reducing the risk of disaster requires to foster people's genuine participation in assessing and enhancing their existing knowledge, skills and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the methodology developed by the Mexican National Disaster Prevention Centre (CENAPRED), we assessed the housing's structural risk to earthquakes and floods of the town of Motozintla, Chiapas, Mexico. Structural vulnerability was estimated by characterizing the local housing's construction and by randomly and statistically selecting the surveyed houses. We assessed risk by superposing the vulnerability geographical information system (GIS) layer over the seismic microzonation and flood scenarios GIS layers previously generated for Motozintla. Our results indicate that in general, this community has high structural vulnerability and risk levels to the two analyzed natural hazards. Very high seismic structural vulnerability is concentrated mainly along the northeastern and western sides of the local Xelaju Grande River. Another major finding is that in the worst flood case scenario (precipitation of 528 mm/h with flood depth > 125 cm) more than 44% of the houses in Motozintla will be severely damaged. Risk increases due to the prevalent precarious housing conditions. The results of this research will allow local authorities to strength their civil protection plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines changes in gender relations in a small coastal community as a result of the 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami. Vulnerability and resilience are used as a conceptual framework to analyse these changes. Based on empirical evidence from a seven-year longitudinal study and quasi-ethnographic work, we explore changes in power relations at the different stages of the disaster and longer-term recovery as well as the conditions that fostered these changes. Our findings show distinct patterns of change. First, disasters can trigger long-lasting changes that challenge historical patriarchal relations. Second, while vulnerability increases following a disaster, resilience can potentially counteract women’s vulnerability. We propose that resilience can be a pathway to produce long-term changes in gender relations and empower women in the context of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined the effects of providing measures against disasters on recipients' perceived risks and preparedness intentions by conducting two experimental studies. A provision of a set of emergency food was manipulated in the first experiment. Participants ( N = 143) were randomly assigned to the provided condition or non-provided condition. In the second experiment ( N = 123), provision of an emergency toilet kit was manipulated. The results of the two experiments consistently indicated that (1) the provision of a measure increased the recipients' perceived risks of the disaster concerned, (2) it increased their preparedness intentions for the disaster, and (3) it had no effects on perceived risks of or preparedness intentions against disasters unrelated to the measure provided. These results were contrary to the prediction deduced from the protection effect and single action effect. The findings in this study encourage promoting the risk management policy of providing people with disaster measures as the first step in disaster preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is one of the most adversely affected countries by climate-related extreme events such as floods owing to its geographical and climatic conditions. Over the last two decades, frequency and severity of flood events have been increased and has adversely affected the livelihood and well-being of millions of people in Pakistan. The development of effective mitigation policies requires a clear understanding of the impacts and local responses to extreme events, which is quite limited in Pakistan. This study used a dataset of 600 households collected through face-to-face interviews from two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that were severely affected from 2010 floods. The correlation and probit model methods are used to assess the study objectives. The findings of the study revealed that elevated ground floor, foundation strengthening, construction of house with reinforced material and precautionary savings were the main adaptation measures adopted at household level. The results from the probit model showed that gender, age, location, monthly income, family size, house ownership, disability, and education influence the households' choices of mitigation strategies. The study further indicated that adoption of mitigation strategies at household level is constrained by several factors, i.e., financial constraint, lack of early warning system, lack of land use planning and inadequate resources. Further mitigation strategies also varied across different groups of households based on education, age, and income. Additionally the study discovered that the local policies on disaster management need to be improved to address the barriers to the adoption of advanced level adaptation measures at the household level such as advanced level early warning system, flood forecasting and dissemination of updated information and support, house building codes, infrastructure building practices, and adequate spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is observational evidence that hydrometeorological extremes, such as heavy rainfall events, have become more frequent and intense in the last decades around the world. In Brazil, intense rainfall events that triggered flash floods and landslides were responsible for 74% of the deaths related to natural disasters in the 1991-2010 period. To evaluate Brazil's hot spots of vulnerability to these disasters, two indices were developed using three data sets: (1) climate, with IPCC climate extreme indices; (2) environmental, including land use, drainage systems, relief, slope, road density and hydrography; and (3) socioeconomic, including the Gini coefficient, Human Development Index, housing conditions and a poverty-related index. Simulations at high resolution were carried out using the Eta 20-km regional climate model nested within two global climate models: HadGEM2 ES and MIROC 5 IPCC AR5 models. For the baseline period of 1961-1990, the vulnerability indices were adjusted by means of an iterative process and were validated by comparing them to the Brazilian National Disasters Data. The two indices were also used to estimate the vulnerability up to the end of the twenty-first century, using the representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 from the IPCC AR5 RCP scenarios. The results indicate a large increase in Brazil's vulnerability to landslides and flash floods in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal settlements are an important source of affordable housing and economic activity in developing cities. Research shows that informal settlements are at high risk from natural hazards and the effects of global climate change. Conditions within such settlements are diverse, however, and it is important that we understand the variation in risk across households. In this paper, we study the uneven terrain of risk to localized hazards in informal settlements in Kolkata, India. Our research question is, which factors predict household exposure to monsoon rain hazards? We surveyed 414 households living in low-lying informal settlements on the city's periphery. Using a variety of predictors, we estimate binary logistic models for two outcome variables tied to monsoon rain: home flooding and home leaking. We find that household exposure varies significantly across our study population and follows predictable patterns based on socio-economic and infrastructure variables. The home flooding model results show that households with higher incomes are less likely to flood, but in situ births increase exposure. Households living in structures made of more permanent materials are less likely to flood, as are households living near infrastructure. The home leaking model shows that households with relative financial stability are less likely to leak, as are those that have been living in the settlement for longer periods of time and whose houses are made of better quality materials. These findings indicate that extensive risk in informal settlements is unevenly experienced and that policies intended to reduce disaster and climate risk should focus on the lowest-income households, the provision of infrastructure, and security of tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the high variability of the nature and severity of the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Bejisa (January 2014, category 3) along the 20-km-long beach-dune systems of the western coast of Reunion Island. Erosional impacts were reported on 17 out of 26 topographic transects, while nine transects exhibited accretion. Sediment loss and gain reached maximum average values of 1.23 and 0.36 m/m of transect, respectively. Sediment deposition occurred on upper beaches and foredunes, which gained up to 1 m in thickness. After 1 year, beach resilience proved to be medium (from 0.4 to 0.8 m/m) to high (>0.8 m/m) on 40 % of transects, but some transects exhibited permanent dune loss. Marine inundation reached a maximum distance of 70.8 m from the vegetation line and a maximum elevation of 6.9 m above sea level. The indigenous vegetation showed high resistance to the impacts of the cyclone and rapid regeneration, whereas introduced species were lastingly damaged. The cyclonic waves damaged 18 seawalls protecting either public infrastructures or private properties, half of which had been reconstructed 3 months later. Severe damage was also caused to a marina built in the downstream section of a river. Importantly, this study emphasises the vicious-cycle effects caused by 'coastal compression' that exacerbates the devastating impacts of cyclonic waves on beaches, vegetation and protection structures, encouraging coastal residents to strengthen engineered structures. In accretional areas, the reworking of sediment deposits by residents reduced the long-term benefits of sediment deposition. Such human-induced processes increase asset exposure and vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic resources to deal with natural hazards are usually limited. In the case of a highly affected territory in terms of floods, this means that they must be spent in an optimal way in order to reduce as much risk as possible. In this situation, flood risk management policies should always be supported by a quantitative scheme so that inequalities can be avoided. Cost-benefit analysis is a common applied tool, albeit it requires an accurate estimation of averted flood damages if their results are to be reliable. In fact, there are several sources of uncertainty in flood risk calculations that must be addressed before any conclusions may be drawn. In addition, other factors, such as social and environmental impacts, should be accounted for too within a multi-criteria analysis. Here we present a comprehensive approach of this sort that has been successfully developed in the Basque Country (northern Spain) in order to define the best possible flood risk management strategy. Starting with a macro-scale analysis to identify areas where a special attention must be paid, it makes use of detailed vulnerability data to select the best mitigation measures at a meso-scale level. This outstanding availability of information, together with a proper validation exercise, makes the methodology feasible and able to provide decision-makers with the necessary arguments to sustain their choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread increase in flood hazards and the ensuing impacts have guided a change in approach to flood risk management especially in developed countries. This is based on the realisation that the integration of non-structural approaches to flood mitigation, for which the understanding of the social dimensions of flood risk is an important aspect, is needful. Flooding as a consequence of changing rainfall patterns and increased frequency of storm surges in the context of urban development has become a major risk in the coastal megacity of Lagos. The focus of flood management in the city has however largely been on structural measures with little attention directed to addressing the social processes which shape the vulnerability or resilience of flood-affected population. Risk perception is an aspect of the social construction of risk, the understanding of which is important in managing risks. The paper employs a combination of theoretical and non-theoretical methods including residents' self-perceived vulnerability and concerns about flood risk, and the psychometric paradigm approach to examine perception of flood risk by residents in flood-affected communities in the city. Data were collected through the administration of a purposely designed questionnaire to 1000 residents in flood-affected communities in the period following two major flood events in the city which occurred in 2011 and 2012. The relationship between flood risk perception and socio-demographic characteristics of residents was also examined. The implications of findings of the study for flood risk management in the city are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern flood risk management strategies have evolved from flood resistance to a holistic approach incorporating prevention, protection and preparedness with the aim of reducing the likelihood and/or impact of flooding. This evolution has been driven by a trend of increasingly damaging and frequent flood events due to climate change. Populations at risk are required to be an active participant within modern flood risk management plans, resulting in management plan effectiveness being partially dependent on the relevant population's flood risk perception. Thus, understanding how at-risk populations perceive their own flood risk, and how this compares to the reality of the situation, is a significant component of flood risk management. This paper compares subjective risk perception to an objective measure of risk within a specific case study area, where 305 residents were surveyed on their perception of flood risk. As part of the survey, respondents were asked to delineate the areas of the study area that they perceived would be at risk of inundation during a severe flood event. Using spatial statistical indicators, including Fuzzy Kappa comparison, it was possible to quantify the divergence between subjective and objective measures of risk extent, enabling an assessment of the 'correctness' of subjective perceived risk. This novel approach identified significant deviations between risk perception and objective risk measures at an individual level. The paper concludes by considering potential policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper synthesis the literature on risk and disaster paradigms and evaluates the disaster management system of Turkey by presenting the post-disaster urban planning practices. The threat of nature on human being and their artefacts establishes risk cognition and becomes one of the main concerns of societies due to the social and economic costs. The change in the perception of risk has led to revise the disaster management paradigms at international level in 1990s. The traditional disaster paradigms see the physical world as an externality causing damage on human environment, thus the aim of this thought is to reduce losses caused by disasters. Seeing the shortcomings of traditional approaches, the changing conceptualization of disasters concludes to contemporary approaches, which assume that pre-disaster policies lead to rationalization of resource allocation and increase efficiency of investments made to reduce risks. However, a disaster management system dominated by traditional view, which focuses on direct impacts of disasters and ignores the secondary effects, leads to employment of resources in an irregular way without predicting possible consequences. In the disaster management approach of Turkey, the security concern of the traditional approach produces permanent housing in geologically safer districts, which causes the problem of fragmentation of urban space. Adapazari and Van, earthquake-hit cities of Turkey, exemplify the post-disaster urban setting of a traditional disaster management approach. Along with the literature, post-disaster practices of Turkey reveal that the security concern result in generation of new settlement districts posing new problems such as fragmentation of urban bodies, alienation of new settlements from historicity of existing town and isolation of urban public culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater arsenic ( As) contamination affects millions of people in South Asia. In this paper, we propose a composite vulnerability framework to identify, for mitigation, the population who are at the highest risk of suffering adverse impacts from exposure to As and warrant mitigation measures. Bihar, India, which was selected for the case study, has large areas with As concentrations far exceeding the upper limits of acceptable level of As in drinking water. Drawing on the existing social science research, we identify a host of socioeconomic and demographic variables, in addition to As concentration in groundwater, which compound a community's vulnerability to the adverse effects of As. The result is a 'composite vulnerability index,' which consists of biophysical, socioeconomic, and demographic factors that collectively determine a community's overall vulnerability to As. Additionally, using geographic information systems (GIS), we represent the composite vulnerability index visually through a set of maps, which highlight the interaction between different community characteristics to generate unique community vulnerability profiles. In summary, this paper outlines a systematic approach to understanding vulnerability to groundwater As, as both social and natural construct, which can be applied to different geographic areas, and to improving decision making and planning pertaining to diverse environmental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article explores the dynamics of disaster-induced risk resulted from tropical Cyclone Aila that struck southwestern coastal residents on May 25, 2009, causing 190 deaths and affecting over 3.9 million with 243,000 houses and destroying 77,000 acres of farmland. This study assesses disaster risk by using basic pseudo-equation expressed as Risk = Hazard × Vulnerability, and explores the influences of various socioeconomic, environmental, institutional and geographical factors on escalating disaster risk. Following stratified purposive sampling techniques, a total of fourteen focus group discussions were conducted at three villages of Padma Pukur union in Satkhira District, from April to August in 2010. Vulnerability to disaster risk was assessed by using a short list of twenty predominant factors in terms of five dimensions, which reveals a strong relationship with sensitivity to climatic hazards. And the perception to hazard cyclone was measured by evaluating eight foremost characteristics that provide a robust insight and social view of affected residents to a physical event. The findings suggest that intensity, likelihood, speed of onset, familiarity and consequences of Cyclone Aila were regarded as significant hazard characteristics to the participants. This study explores that affected people had moderate ability to easily reduce the risks of hazard event. Findings further suggest that extreme weather, disaster-prone location, insufficient public services, high salinity, damage of biodiversity, loss of human lives and animals, shattering livelihood options, and damage of assets and infrastructures were considered as predominant factors of vulnerability. Finally, this study develops a disaster crunch model (DCM) based on the idea of Pressure and Release (PAR) model of vulnerability, which investigates root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions of vulnerability, and various elements at disaster risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has suffered from severe earthquake disasters in recent years. In order to explore the impact of severe earthquakes on public risk perception on different time scales, four surveys were conducted twice each after the severe Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes. t tests were performed between two consecutive surveys to explore the change of public risk attitudes. The results demonstrated that after the two severe earthquakes, the public seismic risk acceptance has increased over time, and the comparison between pre- and post-Yushu earthquake illustrated that the severe disaster had more impact on vulnerable population such as females, children and low-income people. Moreover, linear regression models were employed to find the determining factors of public acceptance towards earthquake risks. It was discovered that the public perceived earthquake effect had significant negative relationship with seismic risk acceptance, and public trust towards local government had positive relationship with the risk acceptance. This study could help government to gain better understanding of public mental status and take more effective disaster preparedness measures when preventing and responding to a severe earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite massive investment in flood control infrastructure (FCI), neither cities nor rivers have been well served-flooding continues to challenge cities around the world, while riverine ecosystems are degraded by FCI. Although new flood hazard management concepts have shifted the focus away from FCI, many cities continue to count on FCI to prevent flood damage. It is assumed that existing built-up areas can only count on FCI, as large-scale retreat is often impossible. However, flood adaptation-retrofitting the built environment to prevent damage during flooding-as an option is often ignored. This paper argues against the continual use of FCI to prevent flood damage by reviewing FCI's established problems. The paper examines human-river interactions associated with FCI, focusing on the feedback mechanisms in the interactions, with a case study on the Lower Green River (LGR) valley in King County, Washington, USA. An urban ecology research model is employed to organize the case study, where interactions between floodplain urbanization, FCI, flow and sediment changes, flood risk, and riverine ecosystem are explored and two feedback mechanisms-river adjustment and flood risk perception-are explicitly addressed. The resulting complex dynamics, in terms of cross-scale interactions, emergence, nonlinearity, and surprises, are synthesized and limitations of FCI outlined. Flood adaptation is explored as a plausible alternative to flood control to nurture flood resilience. A management scenario of flood adaptation for the City of Kent-the largest municipality in the LGR valley-is developed to discuss the implications of flood adaptation on flood risk and river restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islands are known to be vulnerable to natural hazards, resulting in substantial risks for their tourism industries. To facilitate the systematic analysis of the underlying vulnerability drivers, a tourism disaster vulnerability framework was developed. The conceptual model then guided qualitative empirical research in three regions: the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. The results from 73 interviews highlight common, as well as idiosyncratic, factors that shape the islands' hazardscapes and vulnerabilities. Key vulnerabilities included social, economic, political, and environmental dimensions. Probably, the most critical vulnerability driver is the lack of private sector investment in disaster risk reduction. This is interrelated with deficient planning processes, on-going demand for coastal products, lack of political will, and poor environmental conditions. Notwithstanding many barriers, some businesses and organisations engage proactively in addressing disaster risk. The paper's empirical evidence supports the validity of the framework, and suggestions for further research are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from one system to another as a mechanism of adaptation to an external disturbance is widely discussed in terms of 'regime shifts' in resilience research. But occupational transitions by communities due to coastal hazards such as coastal erosion and strong waves have not been studied in depth from a systems perspective. Such a perspective can contribute towards a better understanding of the process and pattern behind transformation among coastal societies. The present case study of coastal occupational communities in Central Java province, Indonesia, includes fishers, brackish pond farmers and labourers. It investigates the historical occupational transitions and the factors that drive them. The study draws on Participatory Rural Appraisal exercises such as historical timeline analysis and participatory discussions along with a socio-economic survey to study the factors and processes that led these communities to transitional pathways. Historical narratives of the community reveal the significance and influence of livelihood capitals such as social, human, financial, physical and natural capital in the transitions. Through the 'Marble and Cup' conceptual framework of the systems transitions, the irreversibility of occupational transitions due to the destruction of natural assets is outlined. This depicts a multi-locale and one-dimensional transition to a singular occupational mode (essentially labourers) in the face of a disturbance like sea level rise, necessitating transformation and building of the livelihood capitals across geographical scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of vulnerability is increasingly used in the fields of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, as well as socioeconomic studies. This paper reviews research inputs into the concept of vulnerability and highlights the challenges of resolving its spatial and temporal variability with building resilience and adaptation. We hypothesise that a clear understanding of scale is key to integrating these related issues, by differentiating three dimensions of scale when analysing relationships between the observed and the intrinsic scale of a given phenomenon, namely space, time and dimensional level. The paper analyses 20 vulnerability assessment approaches, ranging from the global down to the local scale, and positions them with regard to their integration of the spatial component. We then develop a vulnerability cube as a framework to position existing approaches and to map them in a three-dimensional space. The three axes represent space, time and dimension and provide a structure for the different notions of scales and ultimately for a spatial analysis workflow. The vulnerability cube framework helps us to position different vulnerability assessments and to identify overlaps, differences and specific characteristics. Additionally, this three-dimensional conceptualisation allows the identification and discussion of appropriate scaling issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]