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Hazard mitigation plan integration: driven by relationships.

In 2012, Larimer County, Colorado experienced a major wildfire, followed by a major flood in 2013. Many residents were isolated by these events, either through damage to infrastructure or communications systems. These two disasters showed gaps in the county’s emergency capabilities and public safety information outreach.

Iberia Parish Communications Center: Maximizing Mitigation through Collaboration

The Iberia Parish Emergency Operations Center, operated from the 1930’s era Iberia Parish Courthouse.  The parish had outgrown the courthouse building and wanted to make improvements. 

Enhanced Communication for MT-2 Submittals as Part of the FEMA Letters of Map Revision Review Partners Program

The Colorado Water Conservation Board and Mile High Flood Control District hold pre-submittal meetings. These meetings are a chance to answer questions about the Letter of Map Revision process. This joint effort has made for more complete submittals. It has also improved coordination among local agencies and mapping partners.

Preparedness Grant Effectiveness Case Study: New York City

In August 2021, FEMA conducted a grant effectiveness case study with New York City to understand how FEMA preparedness grant funding helped prepare the city’s mass fatality management (MFM) system for the significant increase in deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic. FEMA conducted this case study virtually with representatives from NYC’s MFM system, including NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM) and the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). 

Blue Lake Rancheria Case Study: Impacts of Preparedness Grant Funding

In 2022, FEMA‘s National Preparedness Assessment Division conducted a grant effectiveness case study with the Blue Lake Rancheria to better understand the effects of preparedness grant funding investments made by the tribe. To conduct this case study, FEMA personnel held a virtual interview with Blue Lake Rancheria’s Office of Emergency Services in September 2022. During the case study, participants discussed the tribe’s use of preparedness grant dollars to invest in community resilience, investment and allocation strategies, and recommendations for improving FEMA’s administration of its preparedness grant programs.

Equity-Based Approach to Floodplain Management in Virginia

This presentation focuses on the history of environmental justice in the Commonwealth of Virginia and how those legacies impact current policies.

Equity In Region 3 Planning

The purpose of the Equity In Region 3 Planning brief is to provide an example of equity inclusion in a recent planning effort and to describe our path forward.

Voluntary Regional Planning Approach Builds Stronger Partnerships

In the mid-1990s, North Carolina was a leader in mitigation planning. In 1996, the state created a Hazard Mitigation Planning Initiative. This grew outreach, training and funding support for North Carolina’s local planning efforts. This marked a milestone for North Carolina’s efforts to improve planning in its local jurisdictions.

New Jersey: County of Hunterdon Acquisition of Repetitive Loss Property

Hunterdon County will acquire flood-prone property impacted by Hurricane Ida to prevent future losses.

New Jersey: Berkeley Township Elevation of Three Homes

The township of Berkeley will raise three residential properties for long-term flood protection.

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Kerala flood case study

Kerala flood case study.

Kerala is a state on the southwestern Malabar Coast of India. The state has the 13th largest population in India. Kerala, which lies in the tropical region, is mainly subject to the humid tropical wet climate experienced by most of Earth’s rainforests.

A map to show the location of Kerala

Eastern Kerala consists of land infringed upon by the Western Ghats (western mountain range); the region includes high mountains, gorges, and deep-cut valleys. The wildest lands are covered with dense forests, while other areas lie under tea and coffee plantations or other forms of cultivation.

The Indian state of Kerala receives some of India’s highest rainfall during the monsoon season. However, in 2018 the state experienced its highest level of monsoon rainfall in decades. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there was 2346.3 mm of precipitation, instead of the average 1649.55 mm.

Kerala received over two and a half times more rainfall than August’s average. Between August 1 and 19, the state received 758.6 mm of precipitation, compared to the average of 287.6 mm, or 164% more. This was 42% more than during the entire monsoon season.

The unprecedented rainfall was caused by a spell of low pressure over the region. As a result, there was a perfect confluence of the south-west monsoon wind system and the two low-pressure systems formed over the Bay of Bengal and Odisha. The low-pressure regions pull in the moist south-west monsoon winds, increasing their speed, as they then hit the Western Ghats, travel skywards, and form rain-bearing clouds.

Further downpours on already saturated land led to more surface run-off causing landslides and widespread flooding.

Kerala has 41 rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea, and 80 of its dams were opened after being overwhelmed. As a result, water treatment plants were submerged, and motors were damaged.

In some areas, floodwater was between 3-4.5m deep. Floods in the southern Indian state of Kerala have killed more than 410 people since June 2018 in what local officials said was the worst flooding in 100 years. Many of those who died had been crushed under debris caused by landslides. More than 1 million people were left homeless in the 3,200 emergency relief camps set up in the area.

Parts of Kerala’s commercial capital, Cochin, were underwater, snarling up roads and leaving railways across the state impassable. In addition, the state’s airport, which domestic and overseas tourists use, was closed, causing significant disruption.

Local plantations were inundated by water, endangering the local rubber, tea, coffee and spice industries.

Schools in all 14 districts of Kerala were closed, and some districts have banned tourists because of safety concerns.

Maintaining sanitation and preventing disease in relief camps housing more than 800,000 people was a significant challenge. Authorities also had to restore regular clean drinking water and electricity supplies to the state’s 33 million residents.

Officials have estimated more than 83,000km of roads will need to be repaired and that the total recovery cost will be between £2.2bn and $2.7bn.

Indians from different parts of the country used social media to help people stranded in the flood-hit southern state of Kerala. Hundreds took to social media platforms to coordinate search, rescue and food distribution efforts and reach out to people who needed help. Social media was also used to support fundraising for those affected by the flooding. Several Bollywood stars supported this.

Some Indians have opened up their homes for people from Kerala who were stranded in other cities because of the floods.

Thousands of troops were deployed to rescue those caught up in the flooding. Army, navy and air force personnel were deployed to help those stranded in remote and hilly areas. Dozens of helicopters dropped tonnes of food, medicine and water over areas cut off by damaged roads and bridges. Helicopters were also involved in airlifting people marooned by the flooding to safety.

More than 300 boats were involved in rescue attempts. The state government said each boat would get 3,000 rupees (£34) for each day of their work and that authorities would pay for any damage to the vessels.

As the monsoon rains began to ease, efforts increased to get relief supplies to isolated areas along with clean up operations where water levels were falling.

Millions of dollars in donations have poured into Kerala from the rest of India and abroad in recent days. Other state governments have promised more than $50m, while ministers and company chiefs have publicly vowed to give a month’s salary.

Even supreme court judges have donated $360 each, while the British-based Sikh group Khalsa Aid International has set up its own relief camp in Kochi, Kerala’s main city, to provide meals for 3,000 people a day.

International Response

In the wake of the disaster, the UAE, Qatar and the Maldives came forward with offers of financial aid amounting to nearly £82m. The United Arab Emirates promised $100m (£77m) of this aid. This is because of the close relationship between Kerala and the UAE. There are a large number of migrants from Kerala working in the UAE. The amount was more than the $97m promised by India’s central government. However, as it has done since 2004, India declined to accept aid donations. The main reason for this is to protect its image as a newly industrialised country; it does not need to rely on other countries for financial help.

Google provided a donation platform to allow donors to make donations securely. Google partners with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), an intermediary organisation that specialises in distributing your donations to local nonprofits that work in the affected region to ensure funds reach those who need them the most.

Google Kerala Donate

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Natural Disaster

In 2022, the World Risk Report ranked the Philippines as the most disaster-prone country in the world. As such, the country is highly vulnerable to climate change, under which both the frequency and intensity of disasters are projected to increase. Yet, more frequent typhoons, rising sea levels, and loss of biodiversity will have especially severe consequences for communities living in fragile contexts experiencing conflict and environmental degradation. With this in mind, HHI and MSU-IIT have established a joint research area of focus: to expand and strengthen knowledge on the intersection of climate change, conflict, and the environment. Through a collaborative research initiative that examines this intersection in the BARMM, HHI and MSU-IIT seek to better inform practice and policy across the humanitarian, development, and peace and security sectors and ultimately support community resilience in conflict affected areas.

To launch this research initiative, HHI and MSU-IIT welcomed representatives from academia, local, national, and international NGOs, and community and local government leaders to MSU-IIT’s Iligan City campus for a two-day workshop entitled “Understanding Climate, Conflict, and Environmental Impacts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”

This report documents the process of designing and implementing the workshop, summarizes its outputs, and discusses steps for continued engagement in research and practice at the intersection of climate change, environmental degradation, and conflict.

Nepal is a hotspot for natural hazards and has repeatedly experienced different geological, hydrological, meteorological, and biological hazards. The frequent changes in the type, magnitude, and frequency of these hazards exacerbated by changing phenomena of climatic extremes necessitate reviewing existing preparedness practices and suggesting more work on preparedness measures.

The HHI Program on Resilient Communities has undertaken a scoping study to review existing practices and identify opportunities for strengthening preparedness in Nepal. The scoping study is the first phase in a project that seeks to improve community resilience to disasters through applied research relevant to effective disaster preparedness and management.

The following report summarizes existing literature and highlights findings from a series of consultations with agencies working in disaster risk reduction and management in the country. These consultations found that despite significant progress in legislation and institutional arrangements for preparedness and risk reduction, there are still gaps in effective implementations of endorsed legislation, coordination among agencies, and resources (human, technical and financial).

The study highlights the need to capacitate government officials working at the local and national levels by enhancing understanding and knowledge of shifting patterns of hazards and its effective management techniques.

Similarly, the study also pinpoints the need for advanced trainings in search and rescue operations for key responders. The study concludes by highlighting the importance of coordination with academic and research institutions to project future scenarios of hazards for better management, indicating a need for national-level research and training programs and initiatives dedicated to disaster management.

This book addresses the operationalization of community resilience in the United Kingdom (UK) in connection with severe floods. Written for early academic professionals, students, and community practitioners, it investigates the educational and practical meaning and application of community resilience using a UK-centric local-level case study. Exploring the perceptions of both those who have been affected by a natural hazard and those who have not, the book reveals how trust, community resources, and neighborhood security can offer effective ways of bringing communities together after a natural hazard.

The author introduces the topic of community resilience as it applies to disasters in Chapter 1 and its implications for securing and improving the wellbeing of disaster-affected communities in Chapters 2 and 3. In Chapter 4, the lessons learned contributing to the available information and research on community resilience are reviewed. Finally, the author offers recommendations and outlines future directions in coping with the uncertainty and insecurity caused by natural hazards in Chapter 5.

Principled civil-military coordination in disaster response needed in the Philippines

By HHI Resilient Communities Program

A new study by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative...

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world and frequently ranks among the top three countries most impacted by disasters. Ongoing conflict with non-state armed actors results in scenarios where civilians are impacted by both conflict and natural hazards. The result is a situation where civilian relief agencies operate in proximity to the military. We argue that there is an important need for principled civil-military coordination in these contexts to ensure the integrity of security operations to support peace and stability while preserving the independence of humanitarian actors serving crisis-affected populations.

The research reveals significant challenges in protecting the integrity of independence of both military and humanitarian actors in areas impacted by both conflict and disaster and underscores the need for principled humanitarian civil-military coordination to avert threats to both humanitarian aid workers and disaster affected populations. The findings are particularly relevant to South East Asia where the use of military in disaster response is common. The findings also underscore the need for research on the role of militaries in responding to disasters in light of anticipated impacts of climate change. 

DRRM policies, financial aid needed in small island communities—HHI study

The report emphasizes the case of Pugad Island applies to disaster-prone small island communities in the Asia-Pacific and equatorial regions

The drivers of human displacement are becoming more and more complex, ranging from conflict and persecution to the increasingly pertinent variables of heightened mobility and social media influences. Of rapidly but appropriately escalating concern is the impact of climate change. While the intensity and severity of climate-induced disasters and climate-related migration will be unevenly distributed across space and time, the World Bank estimates that approximately 140 million people will be displaced globally due to climate-related reasons by 2050. The effects of climate change are expected to be particularly pronounced in Africa, where rising temperatures, unpredictable anomalous rainfall and high vulnerability to extreme natural hazards will continue to exacerbate conflict and harm local and regional human, economic, and environmental security.

In the East and Horn of Africa (EHoA) in particular, the dependence on rain-fed agriculture and pastoralism means that livelihoods and food security are inextricably linked and affected by long-term or sudden environmental changes and natural hazards. The extreme natural hazards that have struck EHoA in recent years have caused widespread hunger, displacement, loss of critical infrastructure and livelihoods, and death

In an effort to understand the complex variables that influence migration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to track and gather information about populations on the move. The Flow Monitoring Registry (FMR) captures a wealth of data about the migratory routes, the demographics and nationality of migrants, reasons for migration, modes of transportation used to facilitate movement, and vulnerabilities experienced by these populations. While the descriptive data provides a wealth of information, more can be done to analyze the complexities of and interactions between migration, conflict, environmental changes, and climate-related events. Climate projections further suggest that environmental changes will likely further lead to decreased water availability, lowered agricultural productivity, and increased disease transmission in the region, producing complex ramifications regarding local and regional conflicts, economics, politics, and migration.

The porous borders in EHoA have contributed to some of the highest volumes of cross border movement in the world. In 2020 alone, EHoA hosted 6.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 3.5 million refugees and asylum seekers.6 In the same year, the Horn of Africa experienced unusually high levels of precipitation leading to disastrous floods and landslides and creating ideal conditions for an detrimental locust plague towards the end of 2019 that devastated crops and disrupted livelihoods. The extreme precipitation experienced across much of the Horn in 2019 was preceded by anomalous rainfall the previous year. 2018 was particularly hot and dry in the Horn of Africa, with positive temperature anomalies of around 2°C and below-average precipitation contributing to drought-like conditions in Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti while Kenya and Sudan experienced above-average precipitation.8 The drought-like conditions in Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti contributed to widespread food insecurity that affected approximately 12 million people. These extreme weather conditions are increasingly exacerbating the already complex and interconnected factors driving migration in the Horn of Africa, and are only expected to escalate in the future.

For this study, the IOM RDH in Nairobi partnered with the Humanitarian Geoanalytics Program at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to leverage spatial analytics to investigate migration flows in the East and Horn of Africa and Yemen. Geospatial analytics hold tremendous potential to introduce new ways of thinking, build research capacity, study impacts, and facilitate costeffective programming. The adoption of geospatial methods into research oriented towards populations on the move, gives us the capacity to accurately characterize the spatial heterogeneity of migrating populations. Furthermore, by incorporating environmental variables into this spatial analysis, we begin to reveal relationships previously undiscovered that could contribute to a richer understanding regarding migration in the region.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) has helped to reduce global disaster risk, but there has been a lack of progress in disaster risk reduction (DRR) for people living in fragile and conflict affected contexts (FCAC). Given the mounting evidence that DRR cannot be implemented through conventional approaches in FCAC, serious efforts must be made to understand how to meet SFDRR's goals. This paper offers a case study of international non-governmental organization GOAL's programming that responds to the protracted crisis in Syria, with a critical discussion on SFDRR and how to adapt humanitarian relief and disaster resilience.

This paper presents the findings of a review of academic literature concerning the degree to which corruption worsens naturally-triggered disasters in the built environment. The research employed a ‘systematic literature review’ methodology to analyse leading academic databases, resulting in a detailed analysis of 59 peer-reviewed, published papers. It was found that while much of the literature focuses on earthquakes (relating to building and infrastructure collapse), the quality of governance and the drivers of corruption, there is presently limited scholarship concerning the general scope, reach and scale of how disasters are worsened by corruption.

The long-term needs of coastal communities

By Mark Toldo, Communications Specialist at HHI’s Program on Resilient Communities

One of the stark realities that the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has magnified is how frail the lives of the poor are in fragile settings, especially during...

Thailand's flood of 2011 was devastating for the communities and inhabitants of the country, affecting approximately 13 million people and causing damages totaling THB 1.43 trillion (46.5 billion USD). The presence of a natural hazards disaster such as this can magnify individuals' vulnerability to human trafficking, or mitigate it depending on the disaster risk reduction practices of the surrounding community. The Sendai Framework is the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction's international framework for these situations, outlining targets and priorities for action to reduce negative outcomes, such as trafficking, from natural events. This study aimed to understand how a disaster risk reduction and preparedness lens, based on the Sendai Framework, in the context of the humanitarian response to this 2011 flood, could inform human trafficking prevention efforts for future disasters. Qualitative methodology, utilizing a content analysis approach, was employed. It was found that migrant workers and children were at the greatest risk for trafficking, and resiliency efforts by communities and families, in conjunction with coordinated initiatives by NGOs and the government, were essential in preserving individuals' well-being. Further, the Sendai Framework is a promising tool to address these areas of disaster response in which the windows of opportunity for traffickers can be closed and those at high trafficking risk can be protected. As disasters continue to occur, there remains a strong need to bring forth a more systematic disaster risk reduction and resilience-enhancing approach to trafficking prevention.

Technical and technological progress in the 21st century, especially emerging geographic information system (GIS) technology, offers new and unprecedented opportunities to counteract the impact of crisis situations and emergencies. Computerization and development of GIS enabled the digital visualization of space for interactive analysis of multiple data in the form of models or simulations. Additionally, computerization, which gives rise to a new quality of database management, requires continuous modernization of computer hardware and software. This study examines selected examples of the implications and impact of the GIS commonly used in Poland.

Erin Smith and Frederick M. Burkle Jr. 2/2020. “ Collective trauma is real, and could hamper Australian communities' bushfire recovery .” The Conversation. Read Publication

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans and the surrounding communities, inflicting massive destruction and displacing hundreds of thousands. In the wake of the disaster, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security lifted minimum wage restrictions, thus creating an environment ripe for exploitation of both documented and undocumented workers by their employers. This study presents the experiences of laborers in the construction industry following Hurricane Katrina, and makes recommendations for how federal, state, and local authorities may protect Gulf Coast laborers against exploitation and unfair treatment.

• Conflict (184)
• Early Recovery (36)
• Education (28)
• Food and Nutrition (17)
• Health (113)
• Logistics (80)
• Methodology (153)
• Migration (24)
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Extreme Events, Resilience and Disaster Management: Lessons from Case Studies

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Disaster Management is thought to start only after a disaster has struck. But that is only a part of the overall management strategy. We are increasingly waking up to the fact that Disaster Management should start much ahead and avoiding disasters is the best way to manage them. This calls for building a resilient society. For the last few decades environmental irregularities have become more frequent across the globe, which scientists claim to be the signs of an irreversible climate change. Scientists are clamouring for the need to build mitigating and adaptive measures in local, national and global policies to face this challenge. In this paper, we start with a broad outline of disasters, resilience, damage costs and avoidance costs. We also explain why we find resilience planning to be generally underfunded in developing countries. We then discuss the consequences of such under-preparedness using three case studies of cyclone management in India to understand the complexities of resilience planning and extreme event management policies. We also examine how the pandemic had affected resilience activities during one of the extreme events chosen for study. In the final section we outline the lessons learned from this experience and the policy response that may be put in place to deal with such situation—which looks to become increasingly regular in near future. The paper helps in bringing to limelight the problems faced during multiple extreme events.

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Majumder, R. (2023). Extreme Events, Resilience and Disaster Management: Lessons from Case Studies. In: Mitra, S., Dasgupta, K., Dey, A., Bedamatta, R. (eds) Disaster Management and Risk Reduction: Multidisciplinary Perspectives and Approaches in the Indian Context. NERC 2022. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6395-9_17

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Household disaster awareness and preparedness: A case study of flood hazards in Asamankese in the West Akim Municipality of Ghana

Frank j. glago.

1 Akatsi College of Education, Akatsi, Akatsi South District, Ghana

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Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

Increasing disasters and their associated devastating impacts on society have called into question the capacity of countries to address disaster occurrences. Hitherto, primary disaster management institutions have addressed disaster in a piecemeal manner, commonly through the distribution of relief items after occurrence of disasters. Considering this shortfall and as a contribution to the current discourse of disaster management, this study investigated households’ awareness and preparedness for flood disasters in Asamankese, a rapidly developing township, which has also seen increase in flood disasters in recent times. To this end, a mixed research method approach was used in both data collection and analysis. A survey was conducted to collect data from 200 households in the township. Two focus group discussions were also organised to gather in-depth insights. The study found that households’ awareness of flood disaster risks was very high in both flood-prone and non-flood-prone ecological zones of Asamankese. Also, notable from the study was that whereas level of awareness was high among residents, preparedness levels were generally low, especially in terms of financial preparedness. Several recommendations were proposed, which include improving public education and sensitisation on flood disaster preparedness strategies, creating financial support scheme for residents to increase their financial preparedness as well as encouraging residents to increase their social capital support and participate in community gatherings.

Introduction

While disaster events in the past three decades have increased in frequency, their spatial distribution has made them a global phenomenon (Amoako & Boamah 2015 ). In addition, the impact of disasters has been quite devastating, claiming lots of lives daily (Oteng-Ababio 2013 ). Disasters can result from forces of nature, which may be aided by activities of man such as the construction of roads, irrigation and building of other infrastructure (Ogbanga 2015 ; Pokhrel 2015 ). Disasters may occur in the form of drought, fire outbreak, earthquake, tsunami, windstorm, flood, among others. What these events share in common is their ability to cause widespread community disruption, displacement, economic loss, property damage, deaths and injury as well as profound emotional suffering (Gillis, Shoup & Sicat 2001 ; Ogbanga 2015 ). According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC, 2015 ), disasters caused by natural hazards have displaced on average 26.4 million people annually between 2008 and 2015, which is equivalent to one person per second (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies [IFRC] 2016 ).

According to Fara ( 2001 ), there is no such thing as natural disaster. Events such as earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, storms, fires, droughts and floods by themselves are not considered disasters. Rather, they become disasters when they adversely affect human life, livelihoods and property (IFRC 2007 ; Sinnakaudan et al. 2003 ; White 1945 ). While disaster events are not limited to a geographical space, their impact and the ability to recover from them varies significantly across space, with developing countries being the most affected areas (ActionAid 2006 ; World Bank 2010 ). Climate change, environmental degradation, population growth, increasing urbanisation, unsustainable development in hazard-prone environments, risky technologies, growing social and economic inequalities have all contributed to a dramatic increase in disaster events (Kötter 2003 ; Perrow 2007 ).

The persistent increase in the occurrence of disasters poses a substantive danger to the achievement of both sustainable development and poverty reduction initiatives (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [UNISDR] 2009 ). The UNISDR ( 2009 ) defines disaster as follows:

[ A ] serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. ( https://www.eird.org/eng/terminologia-eng.htm ). (n.p.)

The Oxford Reference Dictionary (ORD) defines flood as an overflowing or influx of water beyond its normal confines. Floods usually occur when the volume of water within a water body or water channel exceeds its carrying capacity, and as a result flows outside the normal perimeter of the water body (Adams 2008 ). Impacts of disasters may include loss of life, injury, disease and other negative effects on human, physical, mental and social well-being, together with damage to property, destruction of assets, loss of services, social and economic disruption and environmental degradation (UNISDR 2009 ).

Risk is usually associated with the human inability to cope with a particular situation. It comprises exposure to danger, adverse or undesirable prospects and conditions that contribute to danger (Hewett 1997 ). Sayers, Hall and Meadowcroft ( 2002 ) define risk as the probability of an event’s occurrence linked to its possible consequences. Disaster risks therefore denote the probability of disaster occurrence. Individuals, cities, and government, social and civil groups from various disciplines take into account the significance of sustained efforts to mitigate social, environmental, economic and emotional cost of disaster by addressing disaster risks (UNISDR 2002 ).

Among disaster events that have gained significant attention in recent times are those caused by floods. Flood disasters are vicious threats, rather than a natural occurrence when humans interfere with flood plains, and their management requires appropriate action at various scales and local community involvement (Anderson 1991 ; Douglas 2017 ). Although national and international institutions across the globe have developed and implemented programmes intended to control flood disasters, the phenomena persist (Bichard & Thurairajah 2014 ). On the global scale, flood disaster occurrences are phenomenal, and are probably the widest spread disasters that occur in most countries and cause maximum deaths (IFRC 2016 ). According to the United Nations Regional Coordinator in Dakar (October 2007), the worst flooding in 30 years, that battered West Africa in July 2007, caused more than 210 deaths and affected more than 785 000 people (Oppong 2011 ).

Disaster risk awareness, which denotes the extent of common knowledge about disaster risks, and the factors that lead to disasters, influence the actions that could be taken individually or collectively to address exposure and vulnerability to hazards. Awareness is a very crucial element for a society to effectively adapt to a flood risk. As stated by Shen ( 2009 ), awareness is diminished when the provision of an appropriate information is minimal or when memories of past experiences or events are diminished. Awareness can generally be uplifted through efforts that are centred on local issues, contain simple solutions to reduce flood risk and are repeated on regular basis (Poortinga, Bronstering & Lannon 2011 ).

United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation (UNDRO 1991 ) defines disaster preparedness as the state of taking direct and indirect measures to reduce damages that accompany disaster events to the minimum level possible. The objectives of preparedness are to ensure that appropriate mechanisms and resources are in place to assist those afflicted by the disaster and enable them to help themselves (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] 1992 ).

Awareness and preparedness towards disasters vary depending on the characteristics of individuals within the community and characteristics of communities across space (Gerdan 2014 ; IFRC 2011 ). For instance, Gerdan ( 2014 ) has suggested that there is a direct link between education or sensitisation and awareness. Using educational levels of respondents, Gerdan ( 2014 ) found that higher levels of education contributed to producing positive awareness. In addition to this, the Regional Office for the Arab States of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (formerly UNISDR-ROAS) (USAID 2011 ) have indicated that depending on the type of community, access to information may vary depending on the social grouping and therefore one’s awareness of disaster risks. These groups may include gender, ethnic grouping and social status. Lastly, IFRC ( 2011 ) suggests that most people become disaster-aware based on their own personal experiences with disaster events over time.

The link between preparedness and awareness is well understood (Gerdan 2014 ; Sinclair & Pegram 2003 ), and as suggested by Gerdan ( 2014 :159): ‘It is possible to increase the capacity to cope with the disasters, by raising the awareness of all components, all individuals and communities in line with this common cause’.

The aftermaths of flood disasters in Ghana are the large-scale destruction of infrastructure, displacement of people, loss of human lives, outbreak of diseases, huge loss of investments, among other things. Over the years, the government and disaster management agencies of Ghana have mainly focused on disaster relief activities after the occurrence of disasters (Oteng-Ababio 2013 ).

Ghana, similar to other African countries, has had a fair share of flood disasters in recent times, with urban areas having a disproportionate share of floods (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery [GFDRR] 2014 ; Okyere, Yacouba & Gilgenbach 2012 ). By way of example, in 2007, a catastrophic flood in the northern region of Ghana affected more than 325 000 people, with approximately 100 000 people requiring assistance for the restoration of their livelihoods (GFDRR 2014 ). In addition, a more recent and perhaps the most devastating flood in the history of Ghana occurred in Accra on 03 June 2015 where 159 people lost their lives and several others were rendered homeless (Daily Graphic 2015 ). National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO 2010 ) suggests that although Ghana is vulnerable to certain disasters, floods have been the major disaster that the country has faced in recent years, especially in urban areas (Kordie 2013 ).

The West Akim Municipality of Ghana is generally considered a flood-prone area. The municipality experiences serious perennial floods that cause loss of lives and destruction to properties. As a result, some residents of Asamankese township in the municipality abandon their homes at the slightest rainfall (Golden Gazette 2014 ). In early October of 2018, a mother and child died when their house carved in after five hours of continuous downpour that caused flooding in several communities of Asamankese township. Thousands of other residents in various communities of the municipality were also displaced (Ansah 2018 ). According to the West Akim municipal office of NADMO, 33 major flood events have been recorded in Asamankese township between 2009 and 2018, which means on average three major floods in the township annually. This resulted in distracting movements of residents, hindering pursuance of vital economic activities and rendering many residents homeless. Properties worth GH₵72 550.00 (about $20 000.00) were directly damaged during this period. In February 2015, for instance, torrential rains rendered some 50 families homeless in Asamankese, destroying properties worth thousands of cedis (Ghana News 2015 ).

In many countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan and Bangladesh, extensive research has been done to access households’ preparedness for flood disasters (see Mallick et al. 2005 ; Motoyoshi 2006 ; Takao et al. 2004 ; Thieken et al. 2007 ). Takao et al. ( 2004 ) conducted a survey on residents’ awareness and preparedness to tackle floods in Nagoya City of Japan in 2002; the authors revealed that residents’ preparedness was not dependent on anticipation of floods, rather on ownership of home and amount of damage experienced during previous floods. Such insightfulness becomes relevant in attempts to comprehensively manage flood disasters.

However, limited research is done to proffer nuanced understanding of awareness and, more importantly, preparedness of individual households towards disaster prevention in Ghana. Studies of preparedness on disasters have disproportionately looked at institutional preparedness (e.g. see Oteng-Ababio 2013 ). Little focus is given to flood issues in small and medium towns and, more importantly, on the level of preparedness in these areas to confront floods. It is based on this understanding that the present research has tried to improve knowledge about the awareness and preparedness of individual households towards flood disaster risk prevention in Asamankese township. The research further interrogated some important factors that affect households’ level of awareness and preparedness to flood disasters in the study area. Level of awareness about flood disaster risk among residents was checked from knowledge of both physical and human-induced factors that contribute to floods in the area. In a similar fashion, level of individual households’ preparedness to flood disasters was also looked at from financial as well as social preparedness perspective. This study is therefore critical to understanding and empowering individual households on disaster management.

Data and methods

Profile of study area.

Asamankese township is the capital town of West Akim Municipality. The topography of the municipality is generally mountainous and undulating. The municipality can be categorised as both lowland and highland area. The highest point is found around the Atiwa range, which is about 1250 ft. above sea level and is located between Pabi, Wawase and Asamankese in the northern part of the municipality (Ampadu-Agyei 2009 ). These conditions place Asamankese township in a valley-like landscape. A medium range, rising gradually between 500 ft and 1200 ft above sea level can be found in the eastern part of the municipality. The rest of the municipality is characterised by relatively lowland areas. The general elevation of Asamankese is about 500 ft. above the sea level (Ampadu-Agyei 2009 ; http://www.floodmap.net) .

The West Akim Municipality falls within the semi-equatorial climatic zone. The municipality, similar to many parts of southern Ghana, is characterised by a double maxima rainfall regime and a period of dry spell (Ampadu-Agyei 2009 ). The mean annual rainfall is between 1238 mm and 1660 mm. Temperature is mostly high throughout the year, yielding an average of 26.1 °C (Ampadu-Agyei 2009 ).

Asamankese township is traversed by several streams which take their sources from highland areas and are seasonal in nature. The major rivers that traverse the township include Abukyen, Ayensu and Supon. These water bodies provide good opportunities of crop cultivation. Rivers and wells constitute the major sources of water, respectively providing approximately 33.1% and 35.1% of total water supply to Asamankese township (Karim et al. 2015 ).

Taking into consideration the topography and drainage as well as past experiences with flood events, the Asamankese township has been divided into flood-prone zone (hereafter referred as FPZ) situated on the eastern side to the township bordering river Abukyen, and non-flood-prone zone (hereafter referred as NFPZ) which covers mostly the western side of the municipality. The FPZ comprises the Old Zongo community, the Estate and the Abaase community (see Figure 1 ), whereas the NFPZ of the Asamankese township comprises the Anum, Asamanketewa and Beposo communities (see Figure 1 ).

Map of Asamankese township.

With respect to population growth and physical expansion, Asamankese has been regarded as one of the fastest growing townships in the eastern region of Ghana (Ghana Statistical Service [GSS] 2010 ). The population of this township has increased from about 16 905 in 1970 to about 39 435 in 2010. Thus, within 40 years (from 1970 to 2010), Asamankese has recorded an increase of about 22 530 in population, thus representing about 133% increase between 1970 and 2010. This increase in population is partly attributed to the town’s strategic location and favourable soil conditions suitable for commercial agriculture, which has recorded an annual growth rate of about 2.5% (Danso-Wiredu 2011 ).

Sources of data collection

The primary quantitative data for this research were collected through a survey. The survey was aimed at soliciting the perceptions of residents on their level of awareness and preparedness towards flood disasters as well as factors that influence their awareness and preparedness levels. A five-item Likert scale ranging from ‘very high’ as the highest level of awareness to ‘very low’ being the lowest level of awareness was employed in the survey. Using this yardstick, as well as experiences from previous flood disasters, respondents were asked to rate their level of awareness of flood disaster risk. Two household heads were identified as key informants and were selected for both interviews and focus group discussions. Two focus group discussions were held with the residents, one with the residents from FPZ and another with the residents of NFPZ. This gave insights into the differences regarding the awareness and preparedness levels of the residents of different ecological zones of the municipality. Secondary data in the form of existing academic literature, magazines, print media and reports from various stakeholder institutions in disaster management were used to broaden the understanding of research area.

The target population for the study was drawn from both FPZ and NFPZ ecological regions of Asamankese. The reason was to ascertain whether significant variations exist in the levels of awareness and preparedness towards flood disasters in different locations. Heads of households were purposely selected as points of contact from each household interviewed; they were selected because of their vital decision-making roles regarding their wellness and preparedness within the communities. These household heads mostly include men and women who have lived in their respective areas for more than two decades.

A total of 200 households from six communities in Asamankese township were selected to participate in the study. Using a stratified sampling method, the 200 households selected were divided into 120 households from FPZ (Old Zongo, Estate and Abaase communities) and 80 households from NFPZ (Anum, Asamanketewa and Beposo communities). This sampling was purported to highlight more issues of residents in FPZ and to be able to make substantial recommendations based on their responses to alleviate their challenges. Respondents sampled in various communities were proportional to the overall sample size of 200 respondents. Therein, respondents from Old Zongo (with a population of about 450 people) accounted for 24% of the entire 200 households visited. The Estate (with a population of about 300 people) and Abaase (with a population of about 250 people) communities respectively represented 21%, and 15% of the entire 200 respondents. In NFPZ, on the other hand, respondents from Anum (having a population of about 360 people) and Beposo (a population of about 350 people) represented 14% each of the entire selected households, whiles Asamanketewa (with a population of about 250 people) communities accounted for 12% of total households visited. After the strata were deduced, simple random sampling method was used to reach the required number of households in each of the communities. The choice of the simple random sampling at this stage was because population sizes of various communities were small, and such smaller communities had significant homogeneity within the population. Two five-member, mixed-gendered focus group discussions were held, which represented residents from both FPZ and NFPZ. The focus group members were selected among the households’ heads interviewed during the survey, so that one focus group discussion was held in each of the ecological zones with each member residing in the community for not less than 10 years.

Ethical considerations

This article followed all ethical standards for a social science research and maintains the anonymity of its direct informants.

Results and discussion

Level of flood disaster awareness in asamankese.

Using the five-item Likert scale, the result, as shown in Figure 2 , indicates that 37.5% of the respondents within FPZ recognised flood disaster as very high, 27.5% ranked it high and 30.8% recognised flood disaster as medium risk. The cumulative response for ‘very high and high’ gave an indication that indeed people were aware of floods as a serious disaster challenge, especially in FPZ. In the other ecological zone, respondents’ perception of flood disaster risk appeared to be equal as 38.8% of the respondents indicated flood disaster as very high. In addition, 35.0% and 23.8% of respondents, respectively, recognised high and medium levels of awareness to flood disaster risk. It is observed that there is an established high level of awareness to the flood disaster risks among residents of Asamankese. In addition, the findings show that residents’ high level of awareness to flood disaster risk is not dependent on the ecological zone in which they reside in Asamankese township.

Level of awareness of flood disaster risks among residents of Asamankese.

Means of flood disaster awareness

There are different modes through which communications regarding disaster risks are formed, disseminated and applied among various target groups (Ardaya, Evers & Ribbe 2017 ). Hence, this study sought to find sources through which residents of Asamankese were informed about flood disaster risks. In resonance with Shen ( 2009 ) and Takoa et al. ( 2004 ), which relate that memories of past experiences are central to shaping people’s awareness, the findings indicated that most people (about 61%) became aware of flood risks in Asamankese through their personal experiences with disaster events over time. As inferred from Table 1 , majority of the respondents, about 68.3% and 51.2% from FPZ and NFPZ respectively, indicated that their awareness of flood disaster risk was the result of their personal experiences with flood events. Announcements on radio and occasional community meetings also accounted as other sources of flood disaster risks awareness within the two ecological zones.

Source of flood disaster awareness among residents of Asamankese.

Respondents’ awareness of the effect of their physical environment and geography in flood disasters

Environmental factors that lead to disaster occurrences tend to increase one’s exposure and vulnerability to pending hazards. In view of this, this study sought to find out the level of respondents’ knowledge of the geography of the areas of their residence. When asked about why the area tends to experience much flooding, respondent in FPZ unsurprisingly asserted to the valley-like cosmos of the township, which makes it swampy. Proximity of settlements to river bodies that often overflow their banks was another issue raised. Statistically, 69.5% of the 120 respondents from FPZ alluded to the area being valley-like and hence swampy. It is therefore apparent that the residents of Asamankese do have fair knowledge of the areas’ natural vulnerability to flood.

Resident’s awareness of human-induced factors contributing to flood disasters

Human-induced factors often heighten the exposure of communities in a natural flood-conducive environment to rampant flood disasters. This research therefore sought to investigate some human-induced factors that increase exposure of resident’s in Asamankese Township to frequent flood disasters. Factors highlighted from residents’ own perspectives are summarised in Table 2 .

Contribution of human-induced factors to flooding.

As seen in Table 2 , significant proportion of residents in FPZ (39.2%) ranked poor drainage systems, 36.7% of respondents highlighted the development of slum and the activities from these areas such as improper disposal of waste, while 15.8% of respondents in FPZ also highlighted the building of houses on water ways as the human-induced factors heightening the exposure of the settlement to rampant flood disasters. Other factors raised include dumping of refuse in drains by some residents and destruction of vegetative cover which tends to enhance the free flow of surface water and reduces its rate of percolation, hence increasing floods’ susceptibility. These factors were equally shared by the NFPZ residents as being responsible for rampant floods occurring in the alternative ecological zone. On 17 October 2015, a 47-year-old head of a household residing in Anum, Asamankese township, recounted in a focus group discussion the following:

[ T ]he main problem in Old Zongo and Abaase areas is the gutters. The gutters are not enough to carry the water when it rains heavily, and secondly, they pour so much rubbish in the gutters, so some of the gutters are also full of rubbish. So, when it rains heavily, where will the water go, it must flood the area … the way we build in this area too is a problem. I even think government is not hard on people so we just build anyhow in the waterways. We in this area also experience floods but it is not serious like in Old Zongo areas, that is why we are always trying to tell people here not to build in the waterway, because of what is going on in Old Zongo and Abaase areas.

This narrative is not far from narratives related in previous literature. For instance, Karley (2009, cited in Amoako & Boamah 2015 ), related that:

[ A ]vailable evidence does not support the fact that, flooding in most parts of the country is as a result of unusual rainfall, rather, the problem results from the lack of drainage facilities to collect the storm water for safe disposal. (p. 25)

Braimah et al. ( 2014 ) also added that as many as 82% of their respondents indicated lack of drainage system, whereas 70% indicated improper disposal of waste or refuse.

Individual level factors and concomitant level of flood disaster awareness

Setting aside physical geography, myriad other factors may also affect individual’s level of awareness of its environment (UNISDR-ROAS 2005). With that disposition, the study sought to analyse the relationship between individual level factors (that is, level of formal education, type of occupation and individual’s gender) and residents’ level of awareness of flood disaster risks. Consequently, a chi-square ( χ 2 ) test of independence was run at 95% confidence level (95% CI) (0.05) to ascertain the significance of these individual characteristics of their awareness levels.

Within FPZ, respondents with basic formal education and those with secondary education (39.4% and 33.3% respectively) constitute the majority of those who ranked flood disasters as the greatest disaster risks in their communities, compared to those with no formal education (15.2%) and tertiary education (12.1%) (see Table 3 ). Surprisingly, these two groups of residents (residents with basic formal education and secondary education) at the same time constitute the majority (20% of respondents with basic education and 60% with secondary school level education) of residents who claimed flood disasters were not a major risk in the township. Similar pattern was observed in the NFPZ of Asamankese township, where respondents with secondary school level education (53.6%) and tertiary level education (35.7%) significantly ranked flood disasters as a serious concern, but at the same time respondents with secondary school level education (38.7%) and tertiary level education (45.2%) ranked floods as not a serious disaster risk. Even though some variations were identified during cross tabulation, the chi-square test of association, in sync with Wang et al. ( 2018 ), showed no significant relationship existing between residents’ level of education and flood awareness in both ecological areas, as the p -values of 0.226 (FPZ) and 0.638 (NFPZ) were higher than the chosen 0.05 level of significance (see Table 3 ).

Relationship between level of education and flood disaster awareness.

Note: Flood-prone zone – c 2 statistic = 11.772, df = 9; p = 0.226 > 0.05. Non-flood-prone zone – c 2 statistic = 6.897, df = 9; p = 0.648 > 0.05.

Regarding respondents’ occupation and their level of awareness of flood disaster risks in FPZ of Asamankese township, the private informal workers category had the highest level of awareness (63.7%) towards flood disaster risks (see Table 4 ). This supports the findings of Wang et al. ( 2018 ) on flood risk perception in Jingdezhen, China. Accordingly, self-employed residents (in this study as private informal workers) had the highest flood risk awareness reached using a range of 1–4 for the corresponding ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘low’ and ‘very low’ levels of awareness. This suggests a more frequent experience with flood disasters among private informal workers, compared with formal government workers, private formal workers and farmers. However, as seen in Table 4 , the private informal working class was represented significantly across various levels of perception on flood disaster risk in both ecological zones, compared with formal public servants, private formal workers and farmers. This skewed representation reflects the overall occupational constitution of residents in the township. Asamankese being the economic capital of West Akim municipality (Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning 2016 ), commerce is the major occupation of vast private informal traders and artisans and a minority population of formal public servants (Abdulai 2015 ). Private informal workers’ high awareness of flood disaster risks, as shown in Wang et al. ( 2018 ), might be explained by the fact that damages from flood disasters were solely borne by them at personal level, while private formal workers and public servants might receive some insurance cover from their place of work. The results of the chi-square test performed showed a significant relationship between occupation type and awareness of flood events in FPZ, given that the p -value obtained was less than 0.05 (0.047). Thus, residents’ occupation in FPZ somewhat influenced their level of flood disaster risk awareness in Asamankese.

Relationship between individual’s type of occupation and rating of flood awareness.

Note: Flood-prone zone – c 2 statistic=17.080, df = 9; p = 0.047 < 0.05. Non-flood-prone zone – c 2 = 15.729, df = 9; p = 0.073 > 0.05.

The results of chi-square test performed for association in NFPZ, however, depict no significant relationship between residents’ occupation and flood awareness as p = 0.073 obtained is greater than the chosen level of significance. Hence, this indicates that generally one’s level of awareness of flood disaster risks, as concurred by Takao et al. ( 2004 ), is not dependent on one’s occupation.

The study again reached out to establish relationship between respondents’ gender and their rating of flood awareness using a range of 1–4 with the corresponding values of ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘low’ and ‘very low’. The data indicated that a significant percentage of females were aware of floods within the study area. Specifically, a cross tabulation revealed that 63.6% and 64.3% of female respondents in FPZ AND NFPZ respectively were ranked very high for their flood disaster risk awareness as compared to 36.4% and 35.7% of male respondents in the corresponding zones as shown in Table 5 . Although this high level of female awareness is reinforced by Wang et al. ( 2018 ), results of chi-square test about association indicated that there is no significant relationship between gender of respondents and their awareness of flood events in both zones as the respective p -values of 0.081 and 0.959 for FPZ and NFPZ were higher than the 0.05 level of significance.

Relationship between individual’s gender and rating of flood awareness.

Note: Flood-prone zone – c 2 statistic = 6.687, df = 3; p = 0.081 > 0.05. Non-flood-prone zone – c 2 statistic = 0.306, df = 3; p = 0.959 > 0.05.

In sum, with reference to the data obtained from the West Akim Municipal Office of the NADMO, it is evident that flood is a common disaster in Asamankese township. Again, it is also revealing that, aside residents’ occupation and level of awareness in FPZ, individual dynamic factors such as level of education, gender and occupation to a great extent, had no significant influence on the level of awareness of flood disaster risks, and thus, the latter, in congruence with Takao et al. ( 2004 ), was informed primarily by residents’ personal experiences with past flood events.

Preparedness strategies adopted by households to confront flood disasters

Financial preparedness and resilience.

As argued by Cannon ( 1994 ), awareness of flood disaster risks and one’s vulnerabilities are insufficient in reducing their impacts, lest it is coupled with an understanding of different economic systems and economic capacities of people to withstand and recover from disasters. The study therefore sought to find out how prepared were residents in terms of their economic resilience. For this, the respondents were asked their assured means of sustenance (if any at all) should they become victims of flood disaster. The results summarised in Table 6 show that of the 120 respondents in FPZ, only 28.3% had some means of sustaining themselves, while 71.7% indicated that they had no guaranteed means of sustenance should they become victims of floods. Similarly, majority of respondents (about 71.2%) in NFPZ had no assured means of sustenance in case of becoming flood victims. Only about 28.8% of respondents (see Table 6 ) indicated that they had an assured means of sustenance.

Economic and social resilience to floods in Asamankese township.

The result brings to the fore the issue pointed out by Flooding Issues Advisory Forum (FIAC, 2007 ) that sustainable flood management involves both social and economic resilience. Moreover, it also suggested that sensitisation should not only include communication of hazards or announcing impending floods but also education on the issues such as better economic planning within a catchment area.

In the case of those who had some means of sustenance, they were further inquired about the specific means of sustenance in anticipation of flood disasters. As summarised in Table 6 , out of the 34 respondents in FPZ, 91.2% indicated that they had financial savings (referred to as Susu in Ghanaian parlance) as a recovery plan, while only 8.8% indicating that they rely on insurance. On the other hand, out of 23 respondents in NFPZ, 78.3% indicated that they had financial savings, while 21.7% indicated that they depend on insurance. The results thus show that a large proportion of respondents (about 71.7% and 71.2% in FPZ and NFPZ respectively) had no means of sustaining themselves to face flood disasters. For those who had some means of sustenance, they largely depended on their financial savings, and this was the situation across both ecological zones.

According to Grothmann and Reusswig (2004), self-protective behaviours by residents of flood-prone urban areas could help to scale down flood damage monetarily by 80%, which thus reduces the need for public flood risk management. Hence, this research further probed into the sufficiency of financial savings for the full recovery of residents from flood catastrophes. During the focus group discussions in FPZ, participants opined that their financial savings were often inadequate, and thus unlike Grothmann and Reusswig’s (2004) claim, couldn’t be sufficient to resuscitate them from flood catastrophes. A 62-year-old former teacher who participated in the focus group discussion held on 03 October 2015 in Old Zongo related as follows:

Some of the people here can do Susu, a lot of people too cannot do it because they don’t have the money. Even many people here pay their children’s school fees, they go to hospital when they are sick, and it is this same small ‘Susu’ that they take to do these things. So, when serious floods happen, and affects them, how much more will they have to cater for themselves from the small susu. They can buy food for some few months then the money finish. If their families too cannot contribute much, then even the small children may have to go to the market side to get something to do so they can survive.

This insufficiency of personal financial protection in times of flood disasters owes to low incomes earned by majority of the residents who were private informal workers (see Table 4 ), particularly in FPZ. Respondents were then asked how they would regain some basic possessions they lost in floods. The results presented in Table 6 show that just 35.8% and 25.0% of respondents in FPZ and NFPZ respectively could regain their possessions through savings. A larger number of respondents indicated that they would be able to regain their lost possessions in floods through the extended family social support. The results, therefore, suggest that although individual financial savings are crucial in meeting the very basic needs of food and clothing immediately after floods, the extended family support is essential to regain some lost possessions. In this regard, this study suggests that the focus should be on preparing of both areas of personal savings and insurance schemes for building resolute capacity to recover from flood disasters.

Social preparedness and resilience

Continuing with the factors that are critical to enhance resilience, respondents were asked about the social structures that enhance their preparedness or serve as a conduit to improve their preparedness for floods. As presented in Figure 3 , 36.7% and 33.8% of respondents in FPZ and NFPZ indicated that the family social structure was critical to prepare for floods. The result again shows that about a quarter (23.3% and 25.0% respectively) of respondents in FPZ and NFPZ asserted that the church was crucial to their preparedness for floods. This is because occasional announcements are made in the church regarding anticipated rainfall. The church then organises some cleanup exercises to help de-silt some choked gutters, especially around the church premises. Attending members then replicate the cleanup exercise in their homes in anticipation of heavy rains.

Social structures that enhance preparedness.

An equally important area noted was friends from the market. It is observed in Figure 3 that 16.7% of respondents from FPZ and 18.8% from NFPZ highlighted the importance of information from friends from market centres. Hence, it is imperative to realise the importance and significance of social capital and social institutions such as friends and family towards resilience-building and disaster preparedness of communities. It therefore goes without saying that in the adoption of any sustainable flood management strategy, social structures (such as families and community commercial activity centres) should be seriously considered. Therefore, it is important that churches and market centres should become places where information on imminent flood disasters from reliable sources be communicated. In addition, by improving individual economic resilience, the study shows that it would invariably strengthen not just one’s immediate nuclear family but also improve the preparedness and ability of other members of the extended family to recover from disasters.

Flood disasters are major environmental challenges faced by residents of Asamankese, the capital of the West Akim Municipality in Ghana. Residents’ level of awareness of flood disaster risks tends to be high because of their own experiences irrespective of their individual level of education, occupation and gender. The rather rampant flood disasters in Asamankese are the combined result of natural environment and inappropriate human behaviours. Despite the high level of awareness of flood disaster risks, there appears to be an incommensurate level of flood disaster preparedness in the settlement. This is mainly because of low level of individual economic capacity to withstand and recover from these disasters.

In times of devastating floods, it is equally important to note the influence of strong social capital in one’s preparedness and ability to recover from flood disasters in the township. This strong element of social capital and institutions was the major means by which many people could recover their possessions that were lost in floods. Moreover, while an early warning system might be in place (partly through church gatherings and market centres), the fact is that preparedness for flood disasters in Asamankese is low, which means that people might not be able to respond properly to and recover fully from the impact of floods.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are made from the findings of this study for promoting local and institutional reforms for awareness and preparedness towards flood disasters.

• Relevant institutions, such as private radio stations, in Asamankese should collaborate with state institutions to further organise these communities, educate them and support them to adopt appropriate adaptive skill-building techniques such as building on stilts and adherence to appropriate building codes. This is important because some of these institutions are already serving as sources of awareness of imminent floods to some sections of Asamankese residents.
• In addition, relevant state institutions should collaborate with social institutions such as churches in Asamankese to set up financial support schemes for residents. These schemes should collect financial contributions from local residents, institutions as well as government’s financial support. Such schemes if managed properly by local residents and existing institutions could become a reliable financial support to assist victims of floods in the township.
• Community-initiated mitigation measures, such as construction of new drains, de-silting of existing drains as well as expanding individual’s social capital by participating in social gatherings, should be vehemently encouraged by local community members to build a more socially resilient community.

Acknowledgements

Competing interests.

The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships that have inappropriately influenced him in the writing of this article.

Authors’ contributions

I declare that I am the sole author of this research article.

Funding information

No grant or financial support was solicited from any organisation for this work.

Data availability statement

The author declares that this article is the result of his original research work, and the views expressed in this article are his personal opinions emanating from field data and views of respondents of Asamankese, and do not represent an official position of the author’s affiliate institution.

How to cite this article: Glago, F.J., 2019, ‘Household disaster awareness and preparedness: A case study of flood hazards in Asamankese in the West Akim Municipality of Ghana’, Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies 11(1), a789. https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v11i1.789

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Challenges for Natural Hazard and Risk Management in Mountain Regions of Europe  

Margreth keiler and sven fuchs, publication history:.

European mountain regions are diverse, from gently rolling hills to high mountain areas, and from low populated rural areas to urban regions or from communities dependent on agricultural productions to hubs of tourist industry. Communities in European mountain regions are threatened by different hazard types: for example floods, landslides, or glacial hazards, mostly in a multi-hazard environment. Due to climate change and socioeconomic developments they are challenged by emerging and spatially as well as temporally highly dynamic risks. Consequently, over decades societies in European mountain ranges developed different hazard and risk management strategies on a national to local level, which are presented below focusing on the European Alps. Until the late 19th century, the paradigm of hazard protection was related to engineering measures, mostly implemented in the catchments, and new authorities responsible for mitigation were founded. From the 19th century, more integrative strategies became prominent, becoming manifest in the 1960s with land-use management strategies targeted at a separation of hazardous areas and areas used for settlement and economic purpose. In research and in the application, the concept of hazard mitigation was step by step replaced by the concept of risk. The concept of risk includes three components (or drivers), apart from hazard analysis also the assessment and evaluation of exposure and vulnerability; thus, it addresses in the management of risk reduction all three components. These three drivers are all dynamic, while the concept of risk itself is thus far a static approach. The dynamic of risk drivers is a result of both climate change and socioeconomic change, leading through different combinations either to an increase or a decrease in risk. Consequently, natural hazard and risk management, defined since the 21st century using the complexity paradigm, should acknowledge such dynamics. Moreover, researchers from different disciplines as well as practitioners have to meet the challenges of sustainable development in the European mountains. Thus, they should consider the effects of dynamics in risk drivers (e.g., increasing exposure, increasing vulnerability, changes in magnitude, and frequency of hazard events), and possible effects on development areas. These challenges, furthermore, can be better met in the future by concepts of risk governance, including but not limited to improved land management strategies and adaptive risk management.

Disaster and Response in an Experiment Called New Orleans, 1700s–2000s  

Richard campanella.

As an urbanized river-dominated delta, New Orleans, Louisiana, ranks among the most experimental of cities, a test of whether the needs of a stable human settlement can coexist with the fluidity of a deltaic environment—and what happens when they do not. That natural environment bestowed upon New Orleans numerous advantages, among them abundant fresh water, fertile soils, productive wetlands and, above all, expedient passage between maritime and continental realms. But with those advantages came exposure to potential hazards—an overflowing Mississippi River, a tempestuous Gulf of Mexico, sinking soils, eroding coasts, rising seas, biotic invasion, pestilence, political and racial discord, conflagration—made all the worse by the high levels of social vulnerability borne by all too many members of New Orleans’ population. More so than any other major metropolis on the North American continent, this history of disaster and response is about the future of New Orleans as much as it is about the past. This article examines two dozen disasters of various types and scales, with origins oftentimes traceable to anthropogenic manipulation of the natural environment, and assesses the nature of New Orleans’ responses. It frames these assessments in the “risk triangle” framework offered by David Crichton and other researchers, which views urban risk as a function of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. “Hazard” implies the disastrous event or trauma itself; “exposure” means human proximity to the hazard, usually in the form of settlement patterns, and “vulnerability” indicates individuals’ and communities’ ability to respond resiliently and adaptively—which itself is a function of education, income, age, race, language, social capital, and other factors—after having been exposed to a hazard.

Impact of Climate Change on Flood Factors and Extent of Damages in the Hindu Kush Region  

Atta-ur rahman, shakeel mahmood, mohammad dawood, ghani rahman, and fang chen.

This chapter analyzes the impacts of climate change on flood factors and extent of associated damages in the Hindu Kush (HK) region. HK mountains system is located in the west of the Himalayas and Karakorum. It is the greatest watershed of the River Kabul, River Chitral, River Panjkora, and River Swat in the eastern Hindu Kush and River Amu in western Hindu Kush. The Hindu Kush system hosts numerous glaciers, snow-clad mountains, and fertile river valleys; it also supports large populations and provides year-round water to recharge streams and rivers. The study region is vulnerable to a wide range of hazards including floods, earthquakes, landslides, desertification, and drought. Flash floods and riverine floods are the deadliest extreme hydro-meteorological events. The upper reaches experience characteristics of flash flooding, whereas the lower reach is where river floods occur. Flash floods are more destructive and sudden. Almost every year in summer, monsoonal rainfall and high temperature join hands with heavy melting of glaciers and snow accelerating discharge in the river system. In the face of climate change, a significant correlation between rainfall patterns, trends in temperature, and resultant peaks in river discharge have been recorded. A rising trend was found in temperature, which leads to early and rapid melting of glaciers and snow in the headwater region. The analysis reveals that during the past three decades, radical changes in the behavior of numerous valley glaciers have been noted. In addition, the spatial and temporal scales of violent weather events have been growing, since the 1980s. Such changes in water regimes including the frequent but substantial increase in heavy precipitation events and rapid melting of snow in the headwater region, siltation in active channels, excessive deforestation, and human encroachments onto the active flood channel have further escalated the flooding events. The HK region is beyond the reach of existing weather RADAR network, and hence forecasting and early warning is ineffective. Here, almost every year, the floods cause damages to infrastructure, scarce farmland, and sources of livelihood.

Involving People in Informal Settlements in Natural Hazards Governance Based on South African Experience  

Catherine sutherland.

Natural hazard governance in countries in the Global South is shifting from a state-centered approach, which has predominantly focused on disaster risk management, with limited involvement of citizens, and a disaster response to a hazard event, to an approach which is more participatory, inclusive and proactive. This emerging approach aims to be transformative, as it draws on the knowledge and skills of multiple actors, including community members; focuses on risk reduction and adaptation; and builds new models of participatory risk governance at the local and city scale. Progressive legislation has played a major role in supporting this evolution toward a more transformative approach to natural hazard governance, which recognizes the political economy and political ecology of risk. This includes acknowledging the vulnerability of communities in particular contexts, and the need to address development deficits to build resilience in the face of natural hazards. However, a significant gap exists between progressive legislation and policy, and implementation. Informal settlements experience some of the worst impacts of natural hazards due to their exposure, vulnerability, and social and political marginalization. However, they are also resilient and adaptive, developing innovative approaches in partnership with the state and other actors, to plan for and respond to natural hazards. Empirical research on particular case studies where these shifts in governance are evident, is necessary to explore the opportunities for and barriers to transformative, participatory natural hazard governance in cities in the South.

Livelihoods in Bangladesh Floodplains  

Parvin sultana and paul thompson.

Floodplains are ecologically diverse and important sources of livelihood for rural people. Bangladesh is one of the most floodplain-dominated countries and supports the highest density of rural population in the world. The experience of Bangladesh in floodplain management efforts provides evidence, lessons, and insights on a range of debates and advances in the management of floodplain natural resources, the challenges of climate change, and the role of local communities in sustaining these resources and thereby their livelihoods. Although floodplain areas are primarily used for agriculture, the significance and value of wild common natural resources—mainly fish and aquatic plants—as sources of income and nutrition for floodplain inhabitants has been underrecognized in the past, particularly with respect to poorer households. For example, capture fisheries—a common resource—have been adversely impacted by the building of embankments and sluice gates and by the conversion of floodplains into aquaculture farms, which also exclude poor subsistence users from wetland resources. More generally, an overreliance on engineering “solutions” to flooding that focused on enabling more secure rice cultivation was criticized, particularly in the early 1990s during the Flood Action Plan, for being top down and for ignoring some of the most vulnerable people who live on islands in the braided main rivers. Coastal embankments have also been found to have longer term environmental impacts that undermine their performance because they constrain rivers, which silt up outside these polders, contributing, along with land shrinkage, to drainage congestion. Locals responded in an innovative way by breaking embankments to allow flood water and silt deposition in to regain relative land levels. Since the early 1990s Bangladesh has adopted a more participatory approach to floodplain management, piloting and then expanding new approaches; these have provided lessons that can be more general applied within Asia and beyond. Participatory planning for water and natural resource management has also been adopted at the local level. Good practices have been developed to ensure that disadvantaged, poor stakeholders can articulate their views and find consensus with other local stakeholders. The management of smaller water-control projects (up to 1,000 ha) has been taken on by community organizations, and in larger water-control projects, there is collaborative management (also called “co-management”) among a hierarchy of groups and associations and the appropriate government agency. In fishery and wetland management, many areas have been managed by community organizations to sustainably restore common resources, although their rights to do this were lost in some cases. Associated with community management are successful experiments in adopting a more system-based approach, called “integrated floodplain management,” which balances the needs of agriculture and common natural resources, for example, by adopting crops with lower water demands that are resilient to less predictable rainfall and drier winters, and enable communities to preserve surface water for wild aquatic resources. Bangladesh also has had success in demonstrating the benefits of systematic learning among networks of community organizations, which enhances innovation and adaptation to the ever-changing environmental challenges in floodplains.

Looking for the Disaster Behind an Earthquake in a Fishing Village in South Pacific Coast of Mexico  

Rogelio josue ramos torres.

One of the central premises within the social construction of risk and disasters perspectives is that the latter are something different from the natural events or manifestations to which they usually are associated. From some theoretical proposals, it has been said that the notion of disaster can vary greatly from one society to another, in such a way that what is disastrous in one place is not in another. One way to separate the disaster from the natural event is to read it from the local realities and frameworks of meaning in which it is suffered, where the relationship and intersections between the social and the natural are essential. On the other hand, to track a disaster can be done based on the way in which people historically perceive risk in their own context and how it is represented, in both daily life and critical moments. There, in these representations, aspects related to the problems or threats that affect their life, their environment, but also their group and social identity are usually reflected. Bahía de Paredón is a fishing town in the southern Mexican Pacific that was hit by a major earthquake in September 2017, which caused serious damage and losses but, at the same time, also opened a “critical window” to observe, in this case through the social representations that emerged, the historical threats and vulnerabilities that society suffers the most. After recounting the material repercussions of the earthquake and confronting them with the fishermen’s testimonies, it is possible to understand, in a manner consistent with local history, what kinds of risks are perceived and the meaning of the representations at that juncture. These are both useful leads to know where and what the disaster is for that specific group of people. Since it is a community with a strong presence of different churches, among Bahía de Paredón inhabitants, risk perceptions and their respective representations are both mediated by a religious dimension. Here, religion operates as a historical explanatory platform to face the mysteries or dangers that working at sea implied, but its influence also shapes social representations around those same dangers. This religious reaction was also clearly seen at the most critical moments during and after the earthquake, when many people appealed mainly to their own church looking for shelter and spiritual relief. In the earthquake context, some of the risk perceptions related to material damages appeared as the continuity of older problems, affecting significantly local activities of daily life. But in social representations, the resignified use of certain elements or factors also appears as a source where fishermen find valuable forces to resist both those old problems and the critical moments caused by the earthquake. In a broad view, water, whose problems are closely related to the deterioration process of the surrounding rivers and the sea where the fishermen work, presented as a major concern among the inhabitants of the bay. But it is also the water, in this case specifically the sea, where the old fishermen find the symbolic strength to face threats the size of an earthquake. Taking into account the history of the bay and the problems fishermen suffer, the representation of risk, in this case, can be interpreted as an emotional or a psychological mechanism to face the inexplicable but also, in a more complex reading, as a gesture of resistance against the processes that deplete or destroy the wealth or natural elements where fishermen used to find safety and whose recovery they claim from the symbolic level.

Measuring Flood Discharge  

Marian muste and ton hoitink.

With a continuous global increase in flood frequency and intensity, there is an immediate need for new science-based solutions for flood mitigation, resilience, and adaptation that can be quickly deployed in any flood-prone area. An integral part of these solutions is the availability of river discharge measurements delivered in real time with high spatiotemporal density and over large-scale areas. Stream stages and the associated discharges are the most perceivable variables of the water cycle and the ones that eventually determine the levels of hazard during floods. Consequently, the availability of discharge records (a.k.a. streamflows) is paramount for flood-risk management because they provide actionable information for organizing the activities before, during, and after floods, and they supply the data for planning and designing floodplain infrastructure. Moreover, the discharge records represent the ground-truth data for developing and continuously improving the accuracy of the hydrologic models used for forecasting streamflows. Acquiring discharge data for streams is critically important not only for flood forecasting and monitoring but also for many other practical uses, such as monitoring water abstractions for supporting decisions in various socioeconomic activities (from agriculture to industry, transportation, and recreation) and for ensuring healthy ecological flows. All these activities require knowledge of past, current, and future flows in rivers and streams. Given its importance, an ability to measure the flow in channels has preoccupied water users for millennia. Starting with the simplest volumetric methods to estimate flows, the measurement of discharge has evolved through continued innovation to sophisticated methods so that today we can continuously acquire and communicate the data in real time. There is no essential difference between the instruments and methods used to acquire streamflow data during normal conditions versus during floods. The measurements during floods are, however, complex, hazardous, and of limited accuracy compared with those acquired during normal flows. The essential differences in the configuration and operation of the instruments and methods for discharge estimation stem from the type of measurements they acquire—that is, discrete and autonomous measurements (i.e., measurements that can be taken any time any place) and those acquired continuously (i.e., estimates based on indirect methods developed for fixed locations). Regardless of the measurement situation and approach, the main concern of the data providers for flooding (as well as for other areas of water resource management) is the timely delivery of accurate discharge data at flood-prone locations across river basins.

Natural Hazards Governance in China  

Timothy sim and jun lei yu.

China is a vast country frequently impacted by multiple natural hazards. All natural disasters have been reported in China, except volcanic eruptions. Almost every region in China is threatened by at least one type of natural hazard, and the rural areas are most vulnerable, with fewer resources and less developed disaster protective measures as well as lower levels of preparedness. In the first 30 years since its establishment in 1949, the Chinese government, hindered by resource constraints, encouraged local communities to be responsible for disaster response. As the country’s economy grew exponentially, after it opened its doors to the world in the late 1970s, China’s natural hazard governance (NHG) system quickly became more top-down, with the government leading the way for planning, coordinating, directing, and allocating resources for natural disasters. The development of China’s NHG is linked to the evolution of its ideologies, legislation system, and organizational structures for disaster management. Ancient China’s disaster management was undergirded by the ideology that one accepted one’s fate passively in the event of a disaster. In contemporary China, three ideologies guide the NHG: (a) passive disaster relief characterized by “help oneself by engaging in production”; (b) active disaster management characterized by “emergency management”; and (c) optimized disaster risk governance characterized by “multiple stakeholders working together.” Meanwhile, the NHG legislation and systems have become more open, transparent, and integrated one over time. Evidenced by the unprecedented growth of social organizations and private companies that engaged in disaster-related activities during and after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, discussions on integrating bottom-up capacities with the top-down system have increased recently. The Chinese government started purchasing services from social organizations and engaging them in building disaster model communities (officially known as “Comprehensive Disaster Reduction Demonstration Communities”) in recent years. These are, potentially, two specific ways for social organizations to contribute to China’s NHG system development.

Natural Hazards Governance in Mexico  

Elizabeth mansilla.

As a result of the earthquakes that occurred in September 1985 and their human and material consequences, disaster care in Mexico became institutionalized and acquired the rank of public policy when the first national civil protection law was published years later. More than 30 years after the creation of the National Civil Protection System, there have been some important advances; however, they have not been translated into higher levels of safety for populations exposed to risk. On the contrary, the evidence shows that the country’s risk, as well as the number of disasters and associated material losses, increase year by year. To a large extent, this stems from an approach based predominantly on post-disaster response by strengthening preparedness and emergency response capacities and creating financial mechanisms to address reconstruction processes, as opposed to broader approaches seeking to address the root causes of risk and disasters. Post-disaster actions and reconstruction processes have failed to achieve acceptable levels of efficiency, and disorganization and misuse of resources that should benefit disaster-affected populations still prevails.

Natural Hazards Governance in South Asia  

Mihir bhatt, ronak b. patel, and kelsey gleason.

South Asia is faced with a range of natural hazards, including floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. Rapid and unplanned urbanization, environmental degradation, climate change, and socioeconomic conditions are increasing citizens’ exposure to and risk from natural hazards and resulting in more frequent, intense, and costly disasters. Although governments and the international community are investing in disaster risk reduction, natural hazard governance in South Asian countries remain weak and often warrants a review when a major natural disaster strikes. Natural hazards governance is an emerging concept, and many countries in South Asia have a challenging hazard governance context.

Old Media, New Media, and the Complex Story of Disasters  

Josh greenberg and t. joseph scanlon.

Media have always played an important role in times of emergency and disaster. Undersea cables, international news agencies, the press, radio and television, and, most recently, digital and mobile technologies—all have played myriad and complex roles in supporting emergency response and notification, and in helping constitute a shared experience that can be important to social mobilization and community formation. The geographical location of disasters and the identities of victims, the increasingly visual nature of disaster events, and the ubiquitous nature of media in our lives, all shape and influence which kinds of emergencies attract global media and public attention, and how we come to understand them. Globalization has compressed time and space such that a whole range of disasters—from natural events (cyclones, earthquakes, and hurricanes) to industrial accidents and terrorist attacks—appear on our television and mobile screens with almost daily frequency. There is nothing inherent about these events that give them meaning—they occur in a real, material world; but for many of us, our experience of these events is shaped and determined in large part by our interactions with media industries, institutions, and technologies. Understanding the media’s construction of these events as disasters provides important insight into the nature of disaster mitigation, response and recovery.

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date: 27 April 2024

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International Case Studies in the Management of Disasters

Natural - manmade calamities and pandemics, table of contents, introduction, analyzing site security design principles in a built environment and implication for disaster preparedness: the case of istanbul sultanahmet square, turkey.

Today, the presence of unwanted activities threatening the safety of the field, which has negative effects on daily life and social psychology, is increasing day by day. There is no doubt that it is inevitable to avoid these threats, but it is possible to take some measures to reduce the destructive power of these threats. Nowadays, increasing terrorist attacks increase the importance of field safety design in urban areas. There is a loss of life in attacks around the world. The subject of this study is to investigate the design criteria related to the built environment and the measures to be taken in the case of bomb attacks in the built environment. In this study, a checklist will designed to measure the security design process around the building. The checklist titles are taken mainly from the “Safety design and Landscape Architecture” series of the Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series/LATIS publications by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Risk Management Series of the Federal Emergency Management Agency/FEMA ( FEMA, 2003 , 2007 ; LATIS, 2016 ) and others. The checklist created as a result of literature review will be tested in Istanbul Sultanahmet Square. As a result of the study, it was determined that improvements should be made in the areas of vehicular and pedestrian access, parking lots, lighting and trash receptacle designs around Sultanahmet Square.

Local Knowledge in Russian Flood-prone Communities: A Case Study on Living with the Treacherous Waters

Owing to the climate change, the number of flood hazards and communities at risk is expected to rise. The increasing flood risk exposure is paralleled with an understanding that hard flood defense measures should be complemented with soft sociotechnical approaches to flood management. Among other things, this involves development of a dialogue between professionals and flood-prone communities to ensure that the decisions made correspond to the peculiarities of local socioenvironmental contexts. However, in practice, establishment of such a dialogue proves to be challenging. Flood-prone communities are often treated as mere recipients of professional knowledge and their local knowledge remains underrated. Building on an illustrative case study of one rural settlement in North-West Russia, we examine how at-risk communities develop their local knowledge and put it to use as they struggle with adverse impacts of flooding, when the existing flood protection means are insufficient. Our findings showcase that local knowledge of Russian flood-prone communities is axiomatic and tacit, acquired performatively through daily interaction of local residents with their natural and sociotechnical environments. Even if unacknowledged by both the local residents and flood management professionals as a valuable asset for long-term flood management, it is local knowledge that informs local communities' practices and enables their coexistence with the treacherous waters.

Financial Implications of Natural Disasters: A Case Study of Floods in Pakistan

Natural disasters occur all around the world, in the last two decades these natural disasters have brought sever damages to the world economy. Mostly developing countries bear severe consequences due to these natural disasters. In July 2010, Pakistan faced a massive flood, which affected almost all the countries. The disaster affected all sectors like daily life, transportation, infrastructure, etc., of the country. GOP did not have enough resources to cope with this giant disaster and called for international help. Local and international NGOs participated with GOP in the early phases of recovery. Millions of dollars were given away as the initial impact of this disaster, and GOP and other relief agents have spent other million to provide initial recovery and relief. GOP will need billions of dollars further to continue recovery from the disaster of 2010.

Microcase Studies on Managing Tourism Destinations in the Aftermath of Disasters

Comparing the experiences of african states in managing ebola outbreaks from 2014 into 2020 *.

Eradicating Ebola from West Africa was struggled with from 2014 through 2016. While at first inefficient and ineffective, undeniable progress was made in responding to the outbreak once countries and organizations steeled themselves for the task at hand. A separate outbreak occurred concurrently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during this period. This episode marked the seventh time that DRC had dealt with the virus over a roughly 45-year span. In 2017, there was an eighth occurrence. Moreover, in 2018, DRC faced its ninth and tenth outbreaks. Comparing the experiences of countries in West Africa facing the disease for the first time, with a state that has a long history addressing its impact, is offered here as a means of better understanding successful disease management where public health epidemics are concerned. Results indicate that early investment in cultivating disease-specific practices, combined with establishing cooperative networks of actors across levels of political response, enables improved mitigation and response during outbreaks.

Kerala Nipah Virus Outbreak 2018: The Need for Global Surveillance of Zoonotic Diseases

Managing visiting scholars' program during the covid-19 pandemic.

International mobility outgoing and incoming from almost every university around the world is not just oriented to highly educative standards among them, but to enhance the development of international competences for students, as well as for academics. While students' mobility are mostly an individual effort that implies individual consequences, academics' mobility involve several resources from universities and trigger collective processes such as research collaboration, visiting lecturers, exchange experiences and best practices meetings, plenary sessions, classes, among others. This case study aims to provide insights about how planned activities related for/with visiting international scholars suffer major disruption and collateral damages when an unplanned and unexpected global crisis occurs, which forces them to react immediately under different real-time decisions and nonexistent protocols. The chapter focuses on Latin America, using the case of the Global Business Week organized by Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) in Mexico, and involving visiting scholars from Peru and Colombia.

Managing E-commerce During a Pandemic: Lessons from GrubHub During COVID-19

The GrubHub Inc, started as a small food ordering service in Chicago in 2004, and has developed into an e-commerce food delivery giant worth over $3 billion. Since its merger with Seamless in 2013, GrubHub has experienced 53% year-over-year growth in revenue. While online food ordering commerce has been expanding over the years, due to the COVID-19, the industry is experiencing an economic shock. Consumers have begun to isolate themselves from outside as much as possible and local shops have been started to close one by one. As a result, demand has been shrinking to services such as GrubHub, even though otherwise would be expected. In order to survive, the company has to employ new measures and devise new ways of conducting business to protect its competitiveness through catering recently changed needs of community due to the pandemic. This case study explains and demonstrates the set of steps that are taken by GrubHub and their effects on its customers, key business partners, shareholder, and stakeholders.

The Role of Communications in Managing a Disaster: The Case of COVID-19 in Vietnam

Despite a ravaging pandemic worldwide, Vietnam managed to contain the local outbreak, partly owing to its carefully implemented risk communications campaign. This chapter investigated the effectiveness of official Vietnam government communications, the sentiment of foreign media reporting on Vietnam, and any challenges. Content analysis was applied to samples from government communications (43 samples); international articles (46); and social media conversations (33). Official government communications were quite accurate, timely, and effective in displaying transparency, employing war symbolism, and shared responsibility, but should more clearly separate between state and expert, offer differing views, and highlight the benefits of compliance. International articles praised the government's viral PSA TikTok video, its transparency, and the netizens' nationalist narratives. While some evidence was found for infodemic, blaming, and heroization, the sample was too small to be conclusive. Future studies should expand the timeframe to a longer duration, quantitatively appraise a wider sampling of social media conversations, and possibly conduct primary interviews with experts, policy makers, and the public.

Passage from the Tourist Gaze to the Wicked Gaze: A Case Study on COVID-19 with Special Reference to Argentina

The Day the World Stopped is a science fiction film that narrates the days of mankind amid an alien invasion headed to avoid the climate change. We made the decision to use a similar title to narrate the facts that precede the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, and its immediate effects on the industry of tourism. Over years, scholars cited John Urry and his insight over the tourist gaze as well as the importance of tourism as a social institution. Of course, Urry never imagined that one day this global world would end. This chapter centers on the needs of discussing the concept of the wicked gaze, which exhibits the end of hospitality, a tendency emerged after 9/11. This chapter punctuates on the decline of hospitality—at least as it was imagined by ancient philosophers—in a way that the tourist gaze sets the pace to a wicked gaze. Whether hospitality and free transit were the foundational values of West, COVID-19, and the resulted state of emergency reveals a new unknown process of feudalization which comes to stay. The chapter is framed based on long-dormant philosophical debates, but given the complexity of this issue, the efforts deserve our attention.

COVID-19 Outbreak in Finland: Case Study on the Management of Pandemics

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation for Finland like never before. These are desperate times for Finland. And desperate times need desperate measures. The Government of Finland is pulling out all the stops and doing everything possible in its continued fight against COVID-19 virus. The crisis primarily erupted due to the initial delay in action and lack of preparedness required to tackle this kind of crisis. Communication channels were put to best use by the Finnish Government in an effort to reach out to all the people in Finland. The people living in Finland should strictly follow the guidelines and support the measures by the Government in full tandem to ensure that the COVID-19 virus is defeated and stops further transmission by breaking the chain. This paper portrays different possible trajectories and outcomes associated with the impacts of the pandemic in Finland.

The COVID-19 Crisis Management in the Republic of Korea

Until recently, the business environment was characterized by a world in which nations were more connected than ever before. Unfortunately, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has virtually ended the borderless and globalized world we were accustomed to. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic at a news conference in Geneva on March 11, 2020. The multifaceted nature of this invisible virus is impacting the world at many levels, and this unprecedented pandemic may best be characterized as an economic and health war against humanity. More international cooperation is crucial for effectively dealing with the present pandemic (and future pandemics) because all nations are vulnerable, and it is highly unlikely that any pandemic would affect only one country. Therefore, this case study takes a sociological approach, examining various social institutions and cultural facets (i.e., government, press freedom, information technology [IT] infrastructure, healthcare systems, and institutional collectivism) to understand how South Korea is handling the crisis while drawing important implications for other countries. All aspects of how Korea is handling COVID-19 may not be applicable to other countries, such as those with fewer IT infrastructures and less institutional collectivism. However, its methods still offer profound insights into how countries espousing democratic values rooted in openness and transparency to both domestic and worldwide communities can help overcome the current challenge. As such, the authors believe that Korea's innovative approach and experience can inform other nations dealing with COVD-19, while also leading to greater international collaboration for better preparedness when such pandemics occur in the future. This case study also considers implications for both public policy and organization, and the authors pose critical questions and offer practical solutions for dealing with the current pandemic.

Empowering Patients through Social Media and Implications for Crisis Management: The Case of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Empowered patients are allies to the healthcare system, especially in emergency situations. Social media use has emerged to be a major means by which patients interact with the healthcare system, and in times such as the current COVID-19 situation social media has to play an even greater crisis management role by empowering patients. Social media channels serve numerous beneficial purposes, despite them also being blamed for the spread of misinformation during this crisis. In this Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) focused case study, we will discuss the increasingly greater role being played by the social media in healthcare in the region and how that empowers not just the patients but the system as a whole. In the GCC region, the healthcare sector is found to reflect a steady growth, leading to an increased drive for empowering patients by lowering the barriers to effective communication and consultation through online media. As of today, social media has become an element of the telehealth infrastructure being deployed in the region. During COVID-19, patients are seen to leverage it pointedly for online health consultations thereby lowering the stress on the healthcare system and adding to efficiencies.

Technology in Medicine: COVID-19 and the “Coming of Age” of Telehealth

Telehealth has been playing a progressively significant role in the management of the COVID-19 crisis. The enforcement of social distancing measures has had the consequence of reduced technology distance in almost every walk of life. In this chapter, based primarily on the still-unfolding experiences of deploying it during the current situation, we argue that telehealth has finally come of age and that it is time to move it from the peripheries to the center of the twenty-first-century healthcare. To provide a live context to the discussion, several instances of how telehealth strengthened our healthcare systems during the COVID-19 crisis are presented.

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Statistical society of canada, case study #1: what is the impact of natural disasters in canada, data source: , organizer: .

Background: The number of natural disasters occurring in Canada, as well as internationally, is increasing. Economic losses associated with natural disasters also appear to be increasing, which is concerning for governments.  Data about natural disasters are a valuable tool to develop policies and actions to assess and manage the risks associated with natural disasters. Even if it is not always possible to prevent natural disasters, much can be done to build capacity to reduce their impact. This includes preventive activities to avoid the adverse impact of hazards, disaster mitigation actions taken in advance of a disaster aimed at decreasing its impact on society and the environment, and disaster preparedness activities such as pre- and post-emergency measures.

Research Question: 

For this case study you will use the Canadian Disaster Database (CDD) to address the following questions:

• How has the impact of natural disasters changed over time in Canada? 
• Has the impact been the same across all provinces or regions of Canada? 
• What might be the impact of natural disasters on Canadians in the future?

Variables: 

Canadian Disaster Database Fields and Description  

Data Access: 

Data Source: The Canadian Disaster Database (CDD) contains detailed disaster information on more than 1000 natural, technological and conflict events (excluding war) that have happened since 1900 and have directly affected Canadians. For this case study you will be working only with the natural disaster events in the CDD.  The CDD tracks significant disaster events which conform to the Emergency Management Framework for Canada definition of a disaster and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• 10 or more people killed;
• 100 or more people affected/injured/infected/evacuated or homeless;
• an appeal for national/international assistance;
• historical significance;
• significant damage/interruption of normal processes such that the community affected cannot recover on its own,

The CDD describes where and when a disaster occurred, the number of injuries, evacuations, and fatalities, as well as an estimate of the costs.  As much as possible, the CDD contains primary data that is valid, current and supported by reliable and traceable sources, including federal institutions, provincial/territorial governments, non-governmental organizations and media sources.  Data is updated and reviewed on a semi-annual basis. The CDD displays cost data in the dollar amount of the year that the event took place or the year a specific payment was made. A conversion tool is available to convert this raw data into the dollar amount in effect for the year of their choosing to determine whether costs have increased or decreased over time, or whether preventative/mitigative measures have helped to lower the cost of disasters. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used to normalize the financial data because it is widely used and accepted.  However, for events that occurred before 1914, the 1914 CPI must be used.  Also, as the CPI cannot be applied to the current year, users should use the year previous to the current year to normalize cost data.   Additional Information: For more information about the CDD see: 

https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/cndn-dsstr-dtbs/index-eng.aspx

You may also find it helpful to look at the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) and its associated resources. EM-DAT contains international data that are comparable to the CDD. Please see: http://www.emdat.be/

Data Files: 

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Building on the success of our SAGUARO project using the Teach with GIS method, we have created a series of in-depth case studies of natural hazards. The Teach with GIS approach allows students to learn GIS analysis techniques, while exploring an interesting scientific problem.

The case studies span a range of inter-leaved topics.

The 1994 Northridge Earthquake Case Study explores the mystery of how such a major fault could have been missed within a tectonic basin that is one of the most studied in the world. It also helps students understand the relationship between subsurface geology and the damage patterns of an earthquake.

The Cascadia Great Earthquake Suite has five stand alone cases within it that provide a comprehensive understanding of these hazards. These include:

• An in depth study of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami as an analog of a future great earthquake and tsunami in Cascadia. A comparative analysis of the tectonic precursors to the three greatest earthquakes ever recorded and a search for such evidence in Cascadia.
• An examination of the stratigraphic evidence for past great earthquakes in Cascadia.
• Determining the impact of a great earthquake on a coastal town in Oregon.
• Assessing the impact within Seattle of the combined threats of great earthquakes, deep crustal earthquakes and shallow crustal earthquakes.

The Dynamic Watersheds Case Study explores the general characteristics of watersheds and their response to flooding by comparing the Big Thompson watershed in Colorado with the Lower Maume watershed in Ohio. A second unit explores the impact of fire and later floods in the Sabino Canyon watershed in Arizona. Erosion, slope failures and dramatic flood events engage the student in understanding how watersheds work.

Each case study provides an opportunity to integrate many basic Earth science and geography concepts within the context of understanding natural hazards and their impact on society. The cases incorporate Google Earth tools, animations, movies, and other resources to enhance learning and engagement. Designed for lower division undergraduate students with no prior experience using a GIS, they can be modified to work in a high school classroom with a skilled instructor. An instructor’s guide provides key information about how to integrate the materials in a course.

GIS made easier

A common misconception is that you need to teach your students everything about the GIS software before you can begin using these materials. Extensive field testing has shown that our investigations provide sufficient guidance for beginning users and that students learn best by using the software tools with a minimal introduction.

The purpose of these investigations is to explore and learn about natural processes and features and how they relate to human activities. As a bonus, students will learn the basics of GIS. For this reason, all of the data have been assembled into ready-to-use projects, and complex operations have been eliminated or simplified. Although it is helpful for students to have basic computer skills, they do not need experience with GIS software to complete the activities. Directions for each task are provided in the text, so they will learn to use the tool as they explore with it. The case studies barely scratch the surface of the data that have been provided, and students are encouraged to explore the data on their own and make their own discoveries.

We developed these materials for use with PASCO’s MyWorld GIS and ESRI ArcGIS. MyWorld has been discontinued. ESRI ArcGIS is designed for professional users and is available from ESRI.com. Many universities have site licenses, making this a good choice. The datasets can also be imported to QGIS, an open source free GIS software.

We welcome feedback on these materials.

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Exploring sustainable development & the human impact of natural disasters

Authored by: Carson Easterly

Photography by: Krista Patton

Faculty & Research

A Q&A with research assistant professor Chenyi Ma

What factors allow people to prepare for and recover from natural disasters?  Dr. Chenyi Ma , a research assistant professor at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), conducts interdisciplinary research that investigates the role of inequality in disasters’ impact and points to policy solutions. Having first come to SP2 as a  PhD in Social Welfare  student, he now teaches SP2 students while conducting research on disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. 

What drew you to SP2 and Penn? 

Disaster research requires interdisciplinary collaboration, and Penn is the ideal place. I have mentors at SP2, Wharton, and Engineering and access to rich, multidisciplinary academic resources. SP2’s social justice mission and commitment to sustainable development also align with my values.

Twelve years ago, I came to SP2 as a student in the PhD in Social Welfare Program. I continued my research on the human impacts of natural disasters as a post-doctoral student.  Now, as a research assistant professor at SP2, I focus on the social determinants of health and behavioral outcomes in disaster contexts, including public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Before joining Penn, you worked as a program officer for Education for Sustainable Development at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). How does that background connect to your research and teaching? 

My work at WWF focused on promoting a holistic approach known as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). With a student-centered learning approach similar to social work education, ESD empowers individuals with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes needed to make informed decisions and take responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society.  ESD also encourages researchers to employ Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) — a collaborative research approach that involves community members — to foster both researchers’ and community members’ knowledge and ability to sustainably manage their local natural resources while respecting, and even sometimes using, indigenous culture, knowledge, and social infrastructure. Student-centered teaching and collaborative research continue to be important themes of my work.

How would you define sustainable development?

Sustainable development is about meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. This approach encompasses social, economic, and political dimensions. My current research delves into the social dimension, recognizing that addressing environmental challenges requires collaboration and co-learning among natural and social scientists, professionals, and stakeholders to find solutions. 

You currently research social vulnerability and disaster preparedness, housing and urban resilience, environmental justice, energy policy, and social epidemiology. What drew you to these research interests?

One of the most important components of sustainable development is disaster risk reduction. As a student at Washington University’s Master of Social Work program and SP2’s PhD program, I began to think of questions about the people affected by disaster risk — for instance, who is more likely to suffer from damage as a result of natural disasters? Which survivors of disasters are more susceptible to mental illness? Do existing social policy programs adequately address the needs of disaster victims?

To answer these questions and others, I began to conduct empirical research. For example, using large datasets and GIS mapping, I led a project that examined the severity of home damage caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Homes occupied by renters were four times more likely to have been destroyed than those occupied by homeowners. This is direct evidence that low-income renters are extremely socially vulnerable to housing damage caused by climate-related disasters.  

Through another study, I found there were racial and ethnic disparities in the prevalence of mental illness among Hurricane Sandy survivors in New Jersey and New York City. Such disparities, largely accounted for by different levels of exposure to a disaster, underscore the need for increased provision of social support to more susceptible groups to effectively mitigate these risks.

What kind of an impact do you hope your work can have on policy in the face of climate inequality?

I hope policymakers might consider public-private partnerships like the National Flood Insurance Program to address private insurance affordability for low-income households who are most vulnerable to housing damage. One of my recent research studies examined how income inequality could influence household consumption behaviors related to disaster preparedness, with a specific focus on private homeowners’ insurance. Observing Hurricane Maria survivors in Puerto Rico, the study found that private homeowners’ insurance — the most important financial tool to mitigate property losses — was unaffordable for low-income households, and income inequality further exacerbated this unaffordability.  

Another of my current studies provides new insight into how public assistance, such as cash transfer welfare programs, can effectively address vulnerable groups who have a high level of risk perception and the intention to prepare for disasters, yet lack the financial resources to do so. The study examines the progress of human behavioral changes for disaster preparedness along three developmental stages, from “not prepared,” to “have the intention to prepare,” and ultimately to “already prepared.” The preliminary findings of this study suggest disparities between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. While Hispanics are more likely to have the  intention  to prepare and exhibit higher levels of risk perception than non-Hispanic whites, they are less likely to take concrete actions of preparedness. This is largely due to the  unequal  access to preparedness resources between the two groups.  

You’ve taught the course Quantitative Reasoning and Program Evaluations at SP2. What are some highlights of your work in the classroom?   

The students and their research projects are always the highlight of my time in the classroom. I view my role as a facilitator who works with them to build their research capacity for completing their own projects. One significant component of ESD is learning by doing. My Penn students adopt a “learning by researching” approach to focus on ways in which their research projects can practically address critical issues in their communities, including environmental, health, and political issues. 

What are you looking forward to discovering next?

I am continuing to explore maladaptive responses to climate-related disasters and public health emergencies. My previous research found that natural disaster survivors often exhibit adaptation behaviors, including maladaptive behaviors like increased alcohol use, after a disaster when they lack financial assistance for recovery. For a current project, I am examining household decision-making processes and underlying maladaptive responses to energy insecurity during the pandemic. My hope is to provide new insights into how energy policies can be more responsive to future disasters. 

Chenyi Ma, MSW, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

office: 215.746.8976

machenyi@upenn.edu

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Looking back at the natural disasters that took place in India in 2021

• Between 1970 to 2019, weather, climate and water hazards accounted for 50% of all disasters, 45% of all reported deaths and 74% of all reported economic losses, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
• According to the World Economic Forum, disaster events have been recorded in the past 20 years, which have claimed the lives of 1.23 million people.
• A flashback at the natural disasters that hit different parts of India this year.

Tamil Nadu floods

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted heavy rainfall in parts of Tamil Nadu, and it came true from November 1. The flooding was caused by extremely heavy downpours, killing at least 41 people.

Several red alerts were issued for many areas in Tamil Nadu, including Cuddalore, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Karaikal, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Viluppuram, and Tiruvannamalai for November 10-11. Over 11,000 were displaced due to the incessant rainfall.

Maharashtra floods

Starting on 22 July, Maharashtra saw heavy rainfall in many of its western districts and recorded the highest rainfall in the month of July in 40 years.

Around 251 people died and over 100 were missing due to floods and landslides in Maharashtra.

Its neighbouring state Goa also witnessed the worst floods in decades.

Kerala floods

Between October 12 and 20, after heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, cutting off towns and villages, 42 people died and 217 houses were destroyed. Out of the 42 people who lost their lives in the floods, five were children.

Kottayam and Idukki were two of the worst affected districts in the state, where days of heavy rainfall had caused deadly landslides.

Cyclone Tauktae

It was a powerful, deadly and damaging tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea that became the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in the Indian state of Gujarat since the 1998 Gujarat cyclone and one of the strongest tropical cyclones to ever affect the west coast of India.

Started on May 14, the storm displaced over 200,000 people in Gujarat and killed 174 people with 80 people still missing.

Tauktae brought heavy rainfall and flash floods to areas along the coast of Kerala and Lakshadweep. There were reports of heavy rain in the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra as well.

Cyclone Yaas

It was a relatively strong and very damaging tropical cyclone that made landfall in Odisha and brought significant impact to West Bengal in May. Yaas formed from a tropical disturbance that the Indian Meteorological Department first monitored on May 23.

Around 20 people across India and Bangladesh died due to the cyclone and West Bengal was one of the most impacted states in India due to Yaas, with a loss of approximately $2.76 billion, according to several media reports.

Cyclone Gulab

The third storm in India that impacted eastern India, was formed on September 24 in Bay of Bengal. On September 26, Gulab made landfall in India's Andhra Pradesh, but weakened over land. The storm overall brought heavy rains and strong winds throughout India and the Middle East, killing at least 39 people.

Over 30,000 individuals were evacuated into safety as a result of the cyclone. This number further increased to 46,075 people as the storm further moved inland.

Assam earthquake

On April 28, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake jolted Assam. The quake resulted in two fatalities and at least 12 people were injured. The quake struck at a depth of 34 kilometres and 140 kilometres north of Guwahati.

The earthquake occurred as a result of oblique-slip faulting at a shallow depth just at the foothills of the Himalayas. Analysis by India's National Centre for Seismology revealed that the earthquake involved a slip along the Kopili Fault, near the Main Frontal Thrust.

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Hot Oceans Worsened Dubai’s Dramatic Flooding, Scientists Say

An international team of researchers found that heavy rains had intensified in the region, though they couldn’t say for sure how much climate change was responsible.

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By Raymond Zhong

Scenes of flood-ravaged neighborhoods in one of the planet’s driest regions stunned the world this month. Heavy rains in the United Arab Emirates and Oman submerged cars, clogged highways and killed at least 21 people. Flights out of Dubai’s airport, a major global hub, were severely disrupted.

The downpours weren’t a total surprise — forecasters had anticipated the storms several days earlier and issued warnings. But they were certainly unusual.

Here’s what to know.

Heavy rain there is rare, but not unheard-of.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula receives a scant few inches of rain a year, although scientists have found that a sizable chunk of that precipitation falls in infrequent but severe bursts, not as periodic showers. These rains often come during El Niño conditions like the ones the world is experiencing now.

U.A.E. officials said the 24-hour rain total on April 16 was the country’s largest since records there began in 1949 . And parts of the nation had already experienced an earlier round of thunderstorms in March.

Oman, with its coastline on the Arabian Sea, is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Past storms there have brought torrential rain, powerful winds and mudslides, causing extensive damage.

Global warming is projected to intensify downpours.

Stronger storms are a key consequence of human-caused global warming. As the atmosphere gets hotter, it can hold more moisture, which can eventually make its way down to the earth as rain or snow.

But that doesn’t mean rainfall patterns are changing in precisely the same way across every part of the globe.

In their latest assessment of climate research , scientists convened by the United Nations found there wasn’t enough data to have firm conclusions about rainfall trends in the Arabian Peninsula and how climate change was affecting them. The researchers said, however, that if global warming were to be allowed to continue worsening in the coming decades, extreme downpours in the region would quite likely become more intense and more frequent.

Hot oceans are a big factor.

An international team of scientists has made a first attempt at estimating the extent to which climate change may have contributed to April’s storms. The researchers didn’t manage to pin down the connection precisely, though in their analysis, they did highlight one known driver of heavy rain in the region: above-normal ocean temperatures.

Large parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have been hotter than usual recently, in part because of El Niño and other natural weather cycles, and in part because of human-induced warming .

When looking only at El Niño years, the scientists estimated that storm events as infrequent as this month’s delivered 10 percent to 40 percent more rain to the region than they would in a world that hadn’t been warmed by human activities. They cautioned, however, that these estimates were highly uncertain.

“Rainfall, in general, is getting more extreme,” said Mansour Almazroui, a climate scientist at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and one of the researchers who contributed to the analysis.

The analysis was conducted by scientists affiliated with World Weather Attribution, a research collaboration that studies extreme weather events shortly after they occur. Their findings about this month’s rains haven’t yet been peer reviewed, but are based on standardized methods .

The role of cloud seeding isn’t clear.

The U.A.E. has for decades worked to increase rainfall and boost water supplies by seeding clouds. Essentially, this involves shooting particles into clouds to encourage the moisture to gather into larger, heavier droplets, ones that are more likely to fall as rain or snow.

Cloud seeding and other rain-enhancement methods have been tried around the world, including in Australia, China, India, Israel, South Africa and the United States. Studies have found that these operations can, at best, affect precipitation modestly — enough to turn a downpour into a bigger downpour, but probably not a drizzle into a deluge.

Still, experts said pinning down how much seeding might have contributed to this month’s storms would require detailed study.

“In general, it is quite a challenge to assess the impact of seeding,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Dr. Delle Monache has been leading efforts to use artificial intelligence to improve the U.A.E.’s rain-enhancement program.

An official with the U.A.E.’s National Center of Meteorology, Omar Al Yazeedi, told news outlets that the agency didn’t conduct any seeding during the latest storms. His statements didn’t make clear, however, whether that was also true in the hours or days before.

Mr. Al Yazeedi didn’t respond to emailed questions from The New York Times, and Adel Kamal, a spokesman for the center, didn’t have further comment.

Cities in dry places just aren’t designed for floods.

Wherever it happens, flooding isn’t just a matter of how much rain comes down. It’s also about what happens to all that water once it’s on the ground — most critically, in the places people live.

Cities in arid regions often aren’t designed to drain very effectively. In these areas, paved surfaces block rain from seeping into the earth below, forcing it into drainage systems that can easily become overwhelmed.

One recent study of Sharjah , the capital of the third-largest emirate in the U.A.E., found that the city’s rapid growth over the past half-century had made it vulnerable to flooding at far lower levels of rain than before.

Omnia Al Desoukie contributed reporting.

Raymond Zhong reports on climate and environmental issues for The Times. More about Raymond Zhong

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