RAPID: Assessing Resiliency among Rural, Suburban, and Urban Communities Following the Thailand Floods Of 2011

University Of North Texas, Denton TX

Investigators

Abstract

During the 20th century, floods were the cause of the most number of lives lost and property damage from natural disasters in the United States (US). This trend will continue in the 21st century as more Americans migrate to coastal communities and floodplains. Unfortunately there is no consensus on what makes some communities more resilient to floods than others. Generally, the term "community resiliency" refers to the capability to rebound from an adverse situation. The concept has gained widespread interest since the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015), which calls on nations to build greater community resiliency. While disaster scholars have developed numerous indicators to measure resiliency and broadly classified the dimensions as ecological, social, economic, institutional, infrastructure, and community competencies (Cutter et al., 2008; Cutter et al., 2010; Chang & Shinozuka, 2004; Manyena, 2006; Morrow, 2008), these studies have been limited to the US and to static, secondary data. The proposed project aims to fill these gaps by assessing how communities in Thailand responded to the 2011 floods. The severe floods that plagued Thailand for over eight months in 2011 were triggered by Tropical Storm Nock-ten. The storm water overflows along the Mekong and Chao Phraya River basins resulted in severe inland flooding, affecting 65 of the country's 76 provinces and over 12 million people. Our project examines the disparities in the abilities of rural (Pathum Thani), suburban (Ayutthaya), and urban (Bangkok) communities, to rebound after such prolonged flooding. It is guided by the Disaster of Place (DROP) model, proposed by Cutter et al. (2008), which used county level spatial data (in the US) to describe disaster resilience in specific geographic areas and across political boundaries. The US research team and Thai collaborators will interview key participants from 45-50 public, private, and non-profit organizations, using semi-structured interviews. We will document the earliest processes, programs, and policies used to address the needs of the populace as they transitioned from short-term to long-term recovery. Ephemeral data will be collected documenting how decisions were initially made and/or changed by organizations serving rural, suburban and urban flood victims. These data will be used to understand ad hoc policies and fluid governance mechanisms that are likely to explain variations in community resiliency to floods across jurisdictions and geographic units. Upon return to the US, an e-survey will be sent to 300 other organizations in Thailand to gather information from a larger sample. This research makes theoretical and practical contributions by, 1) Helping to validate the DROP model and testing its applicability in an international setting, 2) Augmenting or modifying the indicators used in the DROP model with real-time data gathered at the organizational level in flood impacted communities, 3) Emphasizing the attributes of multi-sector organizations in building community resiliency during the transition from short-term to long term recovery and, 4) Allowing for cross cultural understanding, and international knowledge exchange that supports the broader efforts of NSF and disaster scholars from around the world. This award was jointly funded by the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation and the Office of International Science and Engineering's Global Venture Fund.