VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS

Vulnerability Analysis

Vulnerability Analysis

Question 1.A

The United Nations Development Program recently identified seven aspects of vulnerability to hazards. First, certain cities themselves are inherently more risky than other cities due to their proximity to natural hazards. In New Orleans, this would include proximity to Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Proximity to these natural hazards places New Orleans at risk to storm surges and hurricane, particularly during the warm and wet summer climate.

Second, populations are pushed into marginalized land areas that are more vulnerable to hazards. As real estate prices continue to increase and the city's population continues to grow, poorer residents of New Orleans will be forced to move onto land near or below sea-level. Third, community-based coping, strategies are less developed in urban areas leading to social exclusion among those populations living in the most vulnerable areas of the city. Fourth, growing populations put increasing stress on the physical environment.

Fifth, lower-income families are the most likely to inhabit areas vulnerable to hazards making it prohibitively costly to implement the mitigation efforts inevitably to combat increasing physical vulnerability. Sixth, the development of previously undeveloped lands increases the chance of moving to an area where hazards have yet to be identified. Seventh, rapidly growing urban areas lack adequate government mitigation actions to keep pace with growing population figures. Lastly, urban vulnerability cannot be understood without mentioning the potential impact of climate change.

Question 1.B

Disaster preparedness is one of the four phases of an emergency management model, along with mitigation, response, and recovery (Figure 1). Mitigation involves long-term practices that prevent or lessen the impact of disasters and includes actions such as improvements in forecasting and warning technologies. Preparedness activities include actions taken to prepare for an expected event, including gathering supplies for a disaster kit, making an evacuation plan on the part of a household and conducting drills, and acquiring resources to aid in disaster recovery efforts on the part of communities. Response and recovery occur during and after the disaster and include search and rescue, evacuation or sheltering in place (response), and reconstruction and rebuilding of infrastructure (recovery). The four phases are interrelated, non-mutually exclusive, and cyclic. The post impact desire to prevent future losses can encourage mitigation efforts that might otherwise have a difficult time gaining acceptance. Recent events can also encourage preparedness for as well as a response to subsequent events (Dynes, 1994).

Preparedness ...