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Natural disasters such as flooding often affect vast areas and create infinite demands that need to be addressed in the same time. The wide scopes and severe impacts of such catastrophes often exceed, if not overwhelm, capacity of the national government to handle. In such a situation, communities such as cities and neighborhoods need to rely on their own capacity (resources, strategies, and expertise) to respond to disaster impacts at least until external assistance can be reached. Thus, studying how communities can be resilient to the impacts of natural disasters is important because this would enhance their ability to respond to the next disaster better. Within the context of great flooding in Thailand in 2011, this dissertation investigated the factors that generated or enhanced resilience of flood stricken-communities in Thailand. Nakhonswan City Municipality was selected as the research site. Qualitative research methods were employed in this study. Data were collected using in-depth interview and focus group. Thirty-six participants (28 for in-depth interview and 8 for focus group interview) from various organizations were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling strategies. Interview data from the field research were transcribed, translated from Thai language to English, and then analyzed using open coding and focused coding strategies. Analyses of in-depth interview data revealed eight conceptual themes representing factors that constituted resilience of Nakhonsawan City Municipality, as the leading organization responded to the flood. These factors are: availability of resources for resilience; managerial adaptability; crisis leadership; quality workforce; knowledge sharing and learning; organizational preparedness; organizational integration; and sectoral integration. In addition, findings from the focus group interview with members of three strong neighborhoods found eight factors that helped these neighborhoods respond effectively to the flood crisis. They included: self-reliance; cooperation; local wisdom; preparedness; internal support; external support; crisis adaptability; and pre-disaster social cohesion. This dissertation ended with the discussion of implications, limitations and suggestions for future research.

Over the past decades, coastal areas in the United States have experienced exponential increases in economic losses due to flooding, hurricanes, and tropical storms. This in part is due to increasing concentrations of human populations in high-risk coastal areas. Although significant progress has been made in developing mitigation measures to reduce losses in these areas, economic losses have continued to mount. The increase in losses has led to a significant change in hazard research by putting more emphasis on disaster resilience. While there has been a growing interest in the concept of disaster resilience, to date there is little or no empirical research that has focused on systematically measuring this concept. Therefore, the main objective of this dissertation was to develop a theoretically-driven index that can be used to measure disaster resilience in coastal communities. This dissertation argues that a comprehensive measure of disaster resilience should address issues of relevance to all phases of disaster: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Furthermore, a fruitful approach to measure disaster resilience is to assess various forms of capital: social, economic, physical, and human. These capitals are important resources for communities to successfully perform disaster phases' activities. A conceptual model based on disaster phases' activities and community capitals was developed in which indicators for measuring disaster resilience were identified. The model was utilized by first identifying activities relevant to each disaster phase and then specifically identifying indicators from each form of capital that might be important for carrying out those activities. The selected indicators were aggregated and a composite index score was calculated using average method which is based on equal weighting. The reliability and validity of the index were assessed using Cronbach's alpha, regression analysis, and GIS techniques. The results provided convincing empirical evidence that the index is a valid and reliable measure. The application of the measure indicated that disaster resilience is an important predictor of flood property damage and flood related deaths in the U.S. Gulf coast region. Also, the findings indicated that Florida counties are the most resilient whereas counties along the Texas-Mexico border region are the least resilient.

This study examines the relationships between interorganizational network development and sustainability, organizational capacity for emergency management, technology utilization, and community disaster resiliency. It is proposed that cross sector and interorganizational collaboration (i.e., network development and sustainability), information communication technology (ICT) utilization, and organizational capacity have a positive impact on disaster resiliency. Disaster resiliency is measured with a three dimensional metric which includes effectiveness of disaster response, effectiveness of disaster recovery, and adaptive capacities. A questionnaire was sent to organizations that are part of the emergency management system in 11 counties in Central Florida. These organizations were identified by each county's comprehensive emergency management plans. County emergency managers served as the liaison people to reach organizations. They distributed the questionnaire and sent reminders to participants. The study aimed to reach an entire population of 855 emergency management affiliated organizations. The survey had a 25.28% response rate. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the impact of interorganizational network development, interorganizational network sustainability, information communication technology utilization, and organizational capacity on community disaster resiliency. The results of the study show that one third of the total variation in disaster resiliency was explained with the exogenous variables in the structural equation model (R2=.31). There was no statistically significant relationship between network development and disaster resiliency. Also, a correlation was hypothesized between organizational capacity and ICT utilization, according to the study findings no correlation was found between these two variables. Network development, organizational capacity, and ICT utilization were found to be positively associated with disaster resiliency. Among all the variables, organizational capacity had the highest impact on disaster resiliency (β=.36). ICT utilization and network development had almost equal regression weights (β=.25, β=.26 respectively). A correlation was also found between network development and ICT utilization with β=.23. The results suggest that organizations that are part of emergency management systems in Central Florida counties could enhance disaster resiliency of their communities by focusing on interorganizational and cross-sector network development, information communication technology utilization, and organizational capacity. Managerial craft has a critical role in developing relationship as most of the interorganizational ties are established with informal connections and mutual trust. Building relationship, installing technological systems, and carrying out joint trainings often exceeds financial capacities of organizations. Enabling more funding for these initiatives is another key point to which policy makers may pay attention.

In order to more fully inform moves toward equity in emergency management (EM), this research seeks to describe a general landscape of professional Tribal EM, and in particular, to examine how Tribal emergency managers and Tribal Nations are situated in relation to the EM enterprise (EME), and how they are doing resilience in their Tribal Nations. The findings presented in this dissertation reflect efforts to explore and document Tribal emergency managers' descriptions of their work and their perceptions about its context as they seek to do resilience in their Tribes. Specifically, qualitative interviews were conducted with Tribal emergency managers whose Tribal Nations span the United States. Findings indicate that there is significant variation among Tribal nations in terms of EM structures and capacities; Tribal emergency managers engage in a wide array of activities to promote resilience in their communities; and Tribal EM is becoming increasingly professionalized. Importantly, however, the research also uncovered a paradox in which Tribal emergency managers, both implicitly and explicitly excluded from the EME in many ways, find themselves doing resilience in the context of an increasingly popular disaster resilience paradigm that both increasingly shifts the burden of resilience to the local level, and expands the range of tasks associated with successful resilience processes. The dissertation concludes by discussing conceptual and practical implications of the research as well as directions for future research in this area.

The Canterbury region of New Zealand experienced four earthquakes greater than MW 6.0 between September 2010 and December 2011. This study employs system dynamics as well as hazard, recovery and organisational literature and brings together data collected via surveys, case studies and interviews with organisations affected by the earthquakes. This is to show how systemic interactions and interdependencies within and between industry and geographic sectors affect their recovery post-disaster. The industry sectors in the study are: construction for its role in the rebuild, information and communication technology which is a regional high-growth industry, trucking for logistics, critical infrastructure, fast moving consumer goods (e.g. supermarkets) and hospitality to track recovery through non-discretionary and discretionary spend respectively. Also in the study are three urban centres including the region’s largest Central Business District, which has been inaccessible since the earthquake of 22 February 2011 to the time of writing in February 2013. This work also highlights how earthquake effects propagated between sectors and how sectors collaborated to mitigate difficulties such as product demand instability. Other interacting factors are identified that influence the recovery trajectories of the different industry sectors. These are resource availability, insurance payments, aid from central government, and timely and quality recovery information. This work demonstrates that in recovering from disaster it is crucial for organisations to identify what interacting factors could affect their operations. Also of importance are efforts to reduce the organisation’s vulnerability and increase their resilience to future crises and in day-to-day operations. Lastly, the multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the recovery and resilience of organisations and industry sectors after disaster, leads to a better understanding of effects as well as more effective recovery policy.

The Jamaican hurricane history goes back a long time. The country has an average ratio of getting hit or brushed every 3.84 years and it is estimated to be hit directly every 9.47 years. This underscores the relevance of this paper since it seeks to investigate the construction, social structure and policy response of Jamaica. The impressions of the author combined with the interviews and literature study resulted in the conclusion of the constructions and social structure not being the main issue, but the policy response.

This study aims at understanding the role of education in promoting disaster preparedness. Strengthening resilience to climate-related hazards is an urgent target of Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Preparing for a disaster such as stockpiling of emergency supplies or having a family evacuation plan can substantially minimize loss and damages from natural hazards. However, the levels of household disaster preparedness are often low even in disaster-prone areas. Focusing on determinants of personal disaster preparedness, this paper investigates: (1) pathways through which education enhances preparedness; and (2) the interplay between education and experience in shaping preparedness actions. Data analysis is based on face-to-face surveys of adults aged 15 years [or older] in Thailand (N = 1,310) and the Philippines (N = 889, female only). Controlling for socio-demographic and contextual characteristics, we find that formal education raises the propensity to prepare against disasters. Using the KHB method to further decompose the education effects, we find that the effect of education on disaster preparedness is mainly mediated through social capital and disaster risk perception in Thailand whereas there is no evidence that education is mediated through observable channels in the Philippines. This suggests that the underlying mechanisms explaining the education effects are highly context-specific. Controlling for the interplay between education and disaster experience, we show that education raises disaster preparedness only for those households that have not been affected by a disaster in the past. Education improves abstract reasoning and anticipation skills such that the better educated undertake preventive measures without needing to first experience the harmful event and then learn later. In line with recent efforts of various UN agencies in promoting education for sustainable development, this study provides a solid empirical evidence showing positive externalities of education in disaster risk reduction.

Green buildings are increasingly in demand yet current green building practices often do not consider hazard mitigation. High-performance buildings that can withstand hazards, protect residents, and do not need to be rebuilt following a disaster are truly sustainable buildings. This report focuses on current hazard mitigation and disaster resilience standards for wildfires and earthquakes through an in-depth analysis of case studies and best practices for these hazards. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) framework is the ideal vehicle to incorporate hazard mitigation methods into official green building certification. Language for a new LEED Hazard Mitigation and Resilience credit area is established using guidelines for hazard mitigation for wildfires and earthquakes. / text

This dissertation seeks to explore the association between natural disasters and neighborhood change and further to examine the differential impact of natural disasters on neighborhood change according to the disaster itself, the rehabilitation efforts of local jurisdictions, and the characteristics of the affected neighborhoods. Using the longitudinal model, it examines the shifts in neighborhood change trajectory before and after natural disaster for three indicators (home values, poverty rate and racial diversity). The results find that natural disasters have a significant impact on the trend of neighborhood change, reducing variation in the indicators within neighborhood. Home values and racial diversity of neighborhoods are likely to immediately decrease after natural disasters but not to shift in subsequent rate of change,while poverty rates are likely to instantly increase in the aftermath of the disasters and to annually decline over time. This dissertation also explores the differential effects on neighborhood change according to intensity of natural disaster, neighborhoods? average income and the location. The results of the analyses are like the following: 1) the neighborhoods which the more intense disasters hit are more likely to experience the rapid decline in home values and an instant increase in their poverty rates than those which the less intense disaster hit. On the other hand, the more intense natural disasters are more likely to increase neighborhoods? racial diversity than the less intense natural disasters, while natural disasters themselves are likely to decrease it. 2) natural disasters might have the more adverse impacts on low- and high-income neighborhoods than moderate-income neighborhoods and that the impacts on low-income neighborhoods are most severe. More importantly, the adverse impacts in low-income neighborhoods might be long lasting. 3)neighborhoods in suburban areas, compared to neighborhoods in the central cities, are likely to decrease in their home values after natural disasters and to increase in their poverty rates. Finally, the findings of this dissertation confirms its main arguments that a natural disaster affects the trend of neighborhood change and intervenes in the path of change over time and that natural disasters differentially shift neighborhoods according to their characteristics. Further it suggests that these neighborhood changes, once accelerated by a natural disaster, further polarize residential populations on a metropolitan neighborhood scale.