Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM) Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

Introduction In fact, natural disasters are globally a major concern Therefore, many initiatives have been taken at the global regional national and local levels The main focuses of these initiatives are to Strengthening mitigation Increase the community preparedness Enhancing agency & community responses & Boosting up the recovery The main target of these initiatives is to building capacity of the community people to be resilient

Problem statement Bangladesh is a country that is affected almost every year by various forms of natural disasters. flood cyclone and storm surge tornado riverbank erosion drought Salinity and arsenic contamination in the groundwater. Among these floods, cyclone & sea-surge demand special attention because of their frequency of occurrence and damaging power

The overall objective of this study is to understand and assess the present status of community resiliency in a multi-hazard prone coastal area at household and community level in Bangladesh. The specific objectives of this study are to evaluate the mitigation & preparedness activities at the household and community level; study the response and recovery process as well as existing practices and felt needs of household and the community; assess the level of community resiliency ; and finally recommend for building disaster resilient coastal community.

Research design & methods Research typeDescriptive & exploratory Study area selection & Why this area? Kalapara Upazilla, Patuakhali District, 2 Villages: Charipara & Pashurbunia. Coastal community, multi-hazard prone, severely affected by the last 3 cyclone & sea-surge Sampling techniques & sample size Multi-stage cluster sampling. First-Patuakhali dist., kalapara upazilla, Lalua union purposively. 2 villages (Charipara & Pashurbunia) purposively, 90 respondents randomly (accidental method) Data sourcesBoth primary & secondary Data collection methods Standardized structured questionnaire, Field observation, Key informants interview, FGD, case study Data analysis Both quantitative (descriptive statistics) & qualitative (WAI, & case study)

Study area profile… Map: Patuakhali District Map: Kalapara Upazila Source: Study area map

Study area profile… Map 4.1 Cyclone tracks in Bangladesh Map 4.2 Cyclone affected area of Bangladesh Source: Banglapedia Source: SPARRSO Cyclone tracks in Bangladesh Cyclone affected area of Bangladesh, Source: SPARRSO Source: Banglapedia Hazard map

Study area profile… Hazard map Map: Flood affected areas of Bangladesh, Source: BWDB. River erosion areas of Bangladesh, source: BWDB

Image: Cyclone SIDR source: Riverbank erosion, Source: Study area, 2009 Image: Cyclone BIJLI,source: Cyclone AILA (source: NASA, 2009 Saline water affected paddy field in the study area Hazards of study area

Mitigation measures (Structural ) Charipara & Banati bazar cyclone shelter center, Source: Field survey, 2009, School building A small culverts place in the study area Affected road & embankments in the study area

Non-structural mitigation programs Group meeting Non-formal education Awareness drama (Ber jaal (fishing net) Micro-credit Group discussion Mock/disaster drills

Preparedness activities Housing types Pucca house in the study area, source: Field survey, 2009 Traditional local house Kuchha house in the study area, Source: Field survey, 2009

Preparedness… Food and water supply Food dependency Out of 90 respondents 78 (87%)does not have food to face the disaster What they do? Neighbor & relatives help 54% NGO relief 65%, UP relief 52.5% Food dependency Out of 90 respondents 78 (87%)does not have food to face the disaster What they do? Neighbor & relatives help 54% NGO relief 65%, UP relief 52.5% Water supply Yes 36% No 64% Water sources community tube-well 92% neighbors house 50% own source 29% other sources 20% (relief water, water purification, pond water) Reality? Limited water water vulnerability water born diseases 2 tube-wells for 318 HH Costly to set up new tube-well

Preparedness… Early warning & Evacuation supports 100% understand warning signal ignoring tendency ? higher in the fishermen? fishes are seen available during warning signal earlier fish was available within the 2-3 bam deep water (1 bam =1.5 yard (1 bam=3 hat/hand) now fishermen have to go at least 10 bam(15 yard) deep water But during warning signal fish come out on water from deep due to the warm water & eastern wind Evacuation 92 % no 8% yes, who? NGO and Union Parishad what services? volunteers support, information dissemination & help to reach/go shelter center /safer place

Response & Recovery process Response Availability Yes 42% No 58% ER Programs Search & rescue 36% First aid 21% Relief delivery 69% Recovery Damaged house repair 82 % by self 18 % by other help In case of other…who are they LGO (UP) 56% NGO 50% By cooperative basis 6% What are their services? 37.5 % repair the damaged house 62.5 % building new house (*special case Saudi-house, cost approxi.40,000 tk.) 25 % providing partial building materials Saudi houseSource: Field survey, 2009

Response & recovery process… Alternative livelihoods Having alternative livelihoods Yes 10% (Most of the cases GOB program like No 90% Sources of alternative income Source: Field survey, 2009

Measuring the level of community resiliency 4 attributes such as mitigation preparedness response and Recovery five point measurement scales and Weighted Average Index (WAI) have been used The WAI has been designed based on the scaling technique like very high = High = Moderate = Low = very low = WAI Formula = [{fVH(1.0) + fH (0.8) + fM (0.6) + (fL (0.4) + fVL(0.2)/N}]

For example, Degree of satisfaction about the response program ResponseDegree of satisfaction WAI N=90 Remark VHHMLVL Search and rescue (SAR) 0*1 =0 0*.8 =0 10*.6 =6 36*.4 = *.2 = /90 =0.32 Low First aid 0*1 =0 2*.8 =1.6 26*.6 = *.4 = *.2 = /90 =0.41 Moderate Relief works 1*1 =1 4*.8 =3.2 35*.6 =21 35*.4 =14 15*.2 = /90 =0.47 Moderate Rehabilitation3*1 =3 7*.8 =5.6 41*.6 = *.4 = *.2 = /90 =0.54 Moderate Note: very high = , high= , moderate= , low= and very low=0-0.2.

AttributesIndicatorsWAIRemark Mitigation Awareness campaign0.46M Shelter center0.41M Mangrove plantation0.36L Infrastructure(bridges, culverts, roads and embankments)0.5M Community health care centre0.41M Aggregate0.43 M Preparedness Housing 0.41 M Food availability0.38 L Water supply0.42 M Life saving measures 0.41 M Hearing & understanding the warning signal and people’s actions 0.46 M Training & disaster drill 0.41 M Emergency evacuation 0.36 L Aggregate0.41 M Response Search and rescue (SAR)0.32 L First aid0.41 M Relief works0.47 M Rehabilitation0.54 M Aggregate0.44 M Recovery Repairing the damaged house0.37 L Peoples participation in rebuilding process0.5 M Community leaders’ involvement0.36 L Access to financial institutes0.41 M Alternative income/livelihood options0.4 M Community resiliency

Level of resiliency of the studied community M Mitigation Preparedness Response Recovery Awareness campaign, shelter center, mangrove plantation, infrastructure (bridges, culverts, roads, embankments & community health care center Housing, food availability, water supply, life saving measures, hearing & understanding warning signal & people’s actions, training & disaster drill & emergency evacuation Search and rescue, first aid, relief works & rehabilitation Repairing the damaged house, people’s participation in rebuilding process, community leaders involvement, people’s access to financial institutes & alternative livelihood options Analytical aspectsIndicators WAI Resiliency level M M M MODERATE Note: WAI value =very high, =high, =moderate, =low & 0-0.2=very low

Mitigation and preparedness Preparing embankments Disseminating credible early warning Rain water harvesting Building shelter center Response and recovery Strengthening relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programs Creating alternative job opportunities Policy context Further study

Hilsha fish-available at the study area Fishing community Affected people Future generation Kuakata sea-beach