Natural disaster preparedness in a multi-hazard environment: Characterizing the sociodemographic profile of those better (worse) prepared
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
2019-04
Profesor/a Guía
Facultad/escuela
Idioma
en_US
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Public Library of Science
Nombre de Curso
Licencia CC
ATRIBUCIÓN 4.0 INTERNACIONAL
Licencia CC
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
Resumen
The growing multi-hazard environment to which millions of people in the world are exposed highlights the importance of making sure that populations are increasingly better prepared. The objective of this study was to report the levels of preparedness of a community exposed to two natural hazards and identify the primary sociodemographic characteristics of groups with different preparedness levels. A survey was conducted on 476 participants from two localities of the Atacama Region in the north of Chile during the spring of 2015. Their level of preparedness at home and work was assessed to face two types of natural hazards: earthquakes and floods.The findings show that participants are significantly better prepared to face earthquakes than floods, which sends a serious warning to local authorities, given that floods have caused the greatest human and material losses in the region’s recent history of natural disasters. Men claimed to be more prepared than women to face floods, something that the authors attribute to the particular characteristics of the main employment sectors for men and women in the region. The potential contribution of large companies on preparedness levels of communities in the areas in which they operate is discussed. The sociodemographic profile of individuals with the highest levels of preparedness in an environment with multiple natural hazards are people between 30 and 59 years of age, living with their partner and school-age children. The implications of the results pertaining to institutions responsible for developing disaster risk reduction plans, policies and programs in a multi-hazard environment are discussed.
Notas
Indexación: Scopus.
Palabras clave
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Analysis of Variance, Chile, Demography, Disaster Planning, Earthquakes, Family Characteristics, Female, Floods, Geography, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Natural Disasters, Workplace, Young Adult
Citación
PLoS ONE Volume 14, Issue 4 April 2019 Article number e0214249
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0214249