IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0214249.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Natural disaster preparedness in a multi-hazard environment: Characterizing the sociodemographic profile of those better (worse) prepared

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolás C Bronfman
  • Pamela C Cisternas
  • Paula B Repetto
  • Javiera V Castañeda

Abstract

The growing multi-hazard environment to which millions of people in the world are exposed highlights the importance of making sure that populations are increasingly better prepared. The objective of this study was to report the levels of preparedness of a community exposed to two natural hazards and identify the primary sociodemographic characteristics of groups with different preparedness levels. A survey was conducted on 476 participants from two localities of the Atacama Region in the north of Chile during the spring of 2015. Their level of preparedness at home and work was assessed to face two types of natural hazards: earthquakes and floods.The findings show that participants are significantly better prepared to face earthquakes than floods, which sends a serious warning to local authorities, given that floods have caused the greatest human and material losses in the region’s recent history of natural disasters. Men claimed to be more prepared than women to face floods, something that the authors attribute to the particular characteristics of the main employment sectors for men and women in the region. The potential contribution of large companies on preparedness levels of communities in the areas in which they operate is discussed. The sociodemographic profile of individuals with the highest levels of preparedness in an environment with multiple natural hazards are people between 30 and 59 years of age, living with their partner and school-age children. The implications of the results pertaining to institutions responsible for developing disaster risk reduction plans, policies and programs in a multi-hazard environment are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolás C Bronfman & Pamela C Cisternas & Paula B Repetto & Javiera V Castañeda, 2019. "Natural disaster preparedness in a multi-hazard environment: Characterizing the sociodemographic profile of those better (worse) prepared," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0214249
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214249
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214249
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214249&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0214249?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohan, Preeya S. & Ouattara, Bazoumana & Strobl, Eric, 2018. "Decomposing the Macroeconomic Effects of Natural Disasters: A National Income Accounting Perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1-9.
    2. Gavin P. Hayes & Matthew W. Herman & William D. Barnhart & Kevin P. Furlong & Sebástian Riquelme & Harley M. Benz & Eric Bergman & Sergio Barrientos & Paul S. Earle & Sergey Samsonov, 2014. "Continuing megathrust earthquake potential in Chile after the 2014 Iquique earthquake," Nature, Nature, vol. 512(7514), pages 295-298, August.
    3. Michael K. Lindell & David J. Whitney, 2000. "Correlates of Household Seismic Hazard Adjustment Adoption," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 13-26, February.
    4. Abdul‐Akeem Sadiq & John D. Graham, 2016. "Exploring the Predictors of Organizational Preparedness for Natural Disasters," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(5), pages 1040-1053, May.
    5. Matthew Spittal & Frank Walkey & John McClure & Richard Siegert & Kimberley Ballantyne, 2006. "The Earthquake Readiness Scale: The Development of a Valid and Reliable Unifactorial Measure," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 39(1), pages 15-29, September.
    6. Maxx Dilley & Robert S. Chen & Uwe Deichmann & Arthur L. Lerner-Lam & Margaret Arnold, 2005. "Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7376, December.
    7. Julia Becker & Douglas Paton & David Johnston & Kevin Ronan, 2012. "A model of household preparedness for earthquakes: how individuals make meaning of earthquake information and how this influences preparedness," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(1), pages 107-137, October.
    8. Michael K. Lindell & Ronald W. Perry, 2012. "The Protective Action Decision Model: Theoretical Modifications and Additional Evidence," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(4), pages 616-632, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril & Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah & Syafila Kamarudin, 2021. "Speaking of the devil: a systematic literature review on community preparedness for earthquakes," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 108(3), pages 2393-2419, September.
    2. Zhen Cong & Zhirui Chen, 2022. "How are Asian-Americans different from other races in disaster preparedness in the context of caregiving responsibilities and preparation information access?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 112(3), pages 2217-2236, July.
    3. Nicolás C. Bronfman & Paula B. Repetto & Nikole Guerrero & Javiera V. Castañeda & Pamela C. Cisternas, 2021. "Temporal evolution in social vulnerability to natural hazards in Chile," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(2), pages 1757-1784, June.
    4. Joseph Owuondo, 2022. "A Review of Disaster Preparedness and Management Techniques in Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(7), pages 698-701, July.
    5. Sachin Modgil & Rohit Kumar Singh & Cyril Foropon, 2022. "Quality management in humanitarian operations and disaster relief management: a review and future research directions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 1045-1098, December.
    6. Arvin Gaudiel, 2023. "Implementation of disaster risk reduction management activities in flood-prone communities of a highly urbanized city in Central Visayas," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 43(1), pages 593-631, May.
    7. Fabrizio Terenzio Gizzi & Jonghun Kam & Donatella Porrini, 2020. "Time windows of opportunities to fight earthquake under-insurance: evidence from Google Trends," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Seungil Yum, 2022. "Social networks and spatial-temporal analyses for winter storm Jupiter in the US in 2017," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2091-2105, August.
    9. Nicolás Bronfman & Paula Repetto & Paola Cordón & Javiera Castañeda & Pamela Cisternas, 2021. "Gender Differences on Psychosocial Factors Affecting COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-12, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dingde Xu & Zhuolin Yong & Xin Deng & Yi Liu & Kai Huang & Wenfeng Zhou & Zhixing Ma, 2019. "Financial Preparation, Disaster Experience, and Disaster Risk Perception of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence From the Wenchuan and Lushan Earthquakes in China’s Sichuan Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Hao-Teng Cheng & Ko-Wan Tsou, 2018. "Mitigation Policy Acceptance Model: An Analysis of Individual Decision Making Process toward Residential Seismic Strengthening," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-12, August.
    3. Yibin Ao & Hongying Zhang & Linchuan Yang & Yan Wang & Igor Martek & Gang Wang, 2021. "Impacts of earthquake knowledge and risk perception on earthquake preparedness of rural residents," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(2), pages 1287-1310, June.
    4. Enrica Verrucci & Gabriela Perez-Fuentes & Tiziana Rossetto & Luke Bisby & Muki Haklay & David Rush & Patrick Rickles & Gretchen Fagg & Helene Joffe, 2016. "Digital engagement methods for earthquake and fire preparedness: a review," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(3), pages 1583-1604, September.
    5. Zahra Asgarizadeh & Robert Gifford, 2022. "Community and psychological barriers to tsunami preparation," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 112(2), pages 1321-1336, June.
    6. Manqing Wu & Guochun Wu, 2020. "An Analysis of Rural Households’ Earthquake-Resistant Construction Behavior: Evidence from Pingliang and Yuxi, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Timothy Sim & Li-San Hung & Gui-Wu Su & Ke Cui, 2018. "Interpersonal communication sources and natural hazard risk perception: a case study of a rural Chinese village," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 94(3), pages 1307-1326, December.
    8. Dingde Xu & Chen Qing & Xin Deng & Zhuolin Yong & Wenfeng Zhou & Zhixing Ma, 2020. "Disaster Risk Perception, Sense of Pace, Evacuation Willingness, and Relocation Willingness of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Yue ‘Gurt’ Ge & Michael K Lindell, 2016. "County planners’ perceptions of land-use planning tools for environmental hazard mitigation: A survey in the U.S. Pacific states," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 43(4), pages 716-736, July.
    10. Dingde Xu & Wenfeng Zhou & Xin Deng & Zhixing Ma & Zhuolin Yong & Cheng Qin, 2020. "Information credibility, disaster risk perception and evacuation willingness of rural households in China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(3), pages 2865-2882, September.
    11. Yilin Zou & Alexia Stock & Rachel Davidson & Linda Nozick & Joseph Trainor & Jamie Kruse, 2020. "Perceived attributes of hurricane-related retrofits and their effect on household adoption," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(1), pages 201-224, October.
    12. Nicolás C. Bronfman & Pamela C. Cisternas & Paula B. Repetto & Javiera V. Castañeda & Eliana Guic, 2020. "Understanding the Relationship Between Direct Experience and Risk Perception of Natural Hazards," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(10), pages 2057-2070, October.
    13. Xuemei Fang & Liang Cao & Luyi Zhang & Binbin Peng, 2023. "Risk perception and resistance behavior intention of residents living near chemical industry parks: an empirical analysis in China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 115(2), pages 1655-1675, January.
    14. Junlei Yu & Timothy Sim & Wenhua Qi & Zhe Zhu, 2020. "Communication with Local Officials, Self-Efficacy, and Individual Disaster Preparedness: A Case Study of Rural Northwestern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-14, July.
    15. Tianzhuo Liu & Huifang Jiao, 2018. "How does information affect fire risk reduction behaviors? Mediating effects of cognitive processes and subjective knowledge," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 90(3), pages 1461-1483, February.
    16. Panpan Lian & Zhenyu Zhuo & Yanbin Qi & Dingde Xu & Xin Deng, 2021. "The Impacts of Training on Farmers’ Preparedness Behaviors of Earthquake Disaster—Evidence from Earthquake-Prone Settlements in Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, July.
    17. Alex Greer & Hao-Che Wu & Haley Murphy, 2018. "A serendipitous, quasi-natural experiment: earthquake risk perceptions and hazard adjustments among college students," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 93(2), pages 987-1011, September.
    18. Joop de Boer & W. J. Wouter Botzen & Teun Terpstra, 2015. "More Than Fear Induction: Toward an Understanding of People's Motivation to Be Well‐Prepared for Emergencies in Flood‐Prone Areas," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(3), pages 518-535, March.
    19. Li-San Hung, 2019. "Comparing spousal agreement on perceived responsibility for household natural hazard preparedness to actual behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-19, August.
    20. Robert L. Heath & Jaesub Lee & Michael J. Palenchar & Laura L. Lemon, 2018. "Risk Communication Emergency Response Preparedness: Contextual Assessment of the Protective Action Decision Model," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 333-344, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0214249. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.