Abstract
Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Cyclone disasters that affect millions of people, destroy homesteads and livelihoods, and trigger migration are common in the coastal region of Bangladesh. The aim of this article is to understand how the coastal communities in Bangladesh deal with the continuous threats of cyclones. As a case study, this study investigates communities that were affected by the Cyclone Sidr in 2007 and Cyclone Aila in 2009, covering 1555 households from 45 coastal villages in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. The survey method incorporated household based questionnaire techniques and community based focus group discussions. The pre-event situation highlights that the affected communities were physically vulnerable due to the strategic locations of the cyclone shelters nearer to those with social supreme status and the location of their houses in relatively low-lying lands. The victims were also socio-economically vulnerable considering the high rate of illiteracy, larger family size, no ownership of land, and extreme poverty. They were mostly day labourers, farmers, and fishermen. Post-event situation reveals that the victims’ houses and livelihoods were severely damaged or destroyed. Most victims were forced to shift their occupations (e.g., from farmers to fishermen), and many became unemployed. They also became heavily dependent on micro-credits and other forms of loans. A significant number of people were displaced and migrated to large urban agglomerations in search of livelihoods to maintain their families back in the affected villages. Migration was primarily undertaken as an adaptation strategy.
Highlights
Disasters are primarily triggered by the combination of natural hazards and the presence of a vulnerable group of people
It is well established that there is a lack of knowledge, consciousness, relevant government responsibilities, and appropriate resources to tackle the devastations of natural hazards
Of the respondents were illiterate, only 12.3% attended more than 10 years of schooling, and 52.3% had less than 10 years of schooling
Summary
Disasters are primarily triggered by the combination of natural hazards and the presence of a vulnerable group of people. It is well established that there is a lack of knowledge, consciousness, relevant government responsibilities, and appropriate resources to tackle the devastations of natural hazards. Despite spending large budgets to prevent, predict, and protect vulnerable communities from socio-natural disasters, a developed country like the United States responds to hurricanes impacting its coastal regions and cities with staggering helplessness [1]. It is interesting to analyse similar scenarios for developing countries, where some aspects of disaster risk reduction (DRR) are unplanned. It is important to find out how the social and cultural conditions of a country can be adjusted to cope with a disaster and to identify which of these adjustment measures will be socially acceptable.
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