Social perception and response to the drought process: a case study of the drought during 2009–2010 in the Qianxi’nan Prefecture of Guizhou Province

Abstract

Studies carried out on the drought process, which can be classed as a gradual disaster, can help us to understand the disaster mechanism and offer strategies for disaster prevention. This paper uses the example of the drought in the Qianxi’nan Prefecture of Guizhou Province from July 2009 to May 2010. Data have been collected from government gazetteers, meteorological monitoring data, and field surveys to build up a sequence of meteorological drought indices. The categorization of the victims’ perception of drought impact, and the stages of drought responses of different subjects (government, social organizations, and the public), has also been examined by the same way. By contrasting the differences between the metrological drought indices, and victims’ perception of drought impact, researchers explored the drought cognition features of victims, social response features, and dynamic relationships between drought development and social responses. The results were as follows: The drought evolution process could be divided into 6 phases, and victims’ perception of drought impact could be divided into 7 phases. They were consistent in time period, and the victims’ perception of drought was subjective and based on their direct experiences. Their response has the characteristics of long term and concentration on a time. The responses of government and social organizations obviously fell behind those of victims, but they were effective and intensive in both timescale and effort. As the drought developed, responses shifted from individual to social responses and from practical to economic, political, and technological responses. On the basis of the results, the author has suggested methods of preparing stakeholders against possible drought risks.