Disaster Risk Preparedness of Households in the Caribbean
Preparing for—and responding to—disasters requires a people-centered approach and a strong understanding of households’ ability to cope with shocks. Relying on novel household survey data, this paper examines the ability of households in the Caribbean to cope with disasters caused by natural hazards. The analysis sheds light on disaster preparedness in five “data deprived” countries: Belize, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Lucia, and Suriname. The analysis points to a clear income gradient in possession of emergency supplies needed to cope with disasters. This gradient can be observed at both the country and household levels. In contrast, no such income gradient is observed for other key elements of preparation for disasters: community disaster management systems and discussion of risk mitigation strategies within households (both of which are common in the Caribbean hurricane belt). There is substantial variation in preparedness to cope with disasters across sociodemographic groups, as households with less educated heads, with children, and residing in rural areas are generally less able to handle disasters. All in all, a large share of households in all five countries indicates that they are not prepared to cope with a natural disaster. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on disaster risk preparedness, primarily due to households’ deteriorating financial circumstances.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2024-06-18
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| Subjects: | CARIBBEAN, DISASTERS, NATURAL HAZARDS, PREPAREDNESS, SURVEY, BELIZE, DOMINICA, HAITI, SAINT LUCIA, SURINAME, LIFE ON LAND, SDG 15, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099355406172433118/IDU13a2795cf13e1b14e781b49710ad6932147a1 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41727 |
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| Summary: | Preparing for—and responding
to—disasters requires a people-centered approach and a
strong understanding of households’ ability to cope with
shocks. Relying on novel household survey data, this paper
examines the ability of households in the Caribbean to cope
with disasters caused by natural hazards. The analysis sheds
light on disaster preparedness in five “data deprived”
countries: Belize, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Lucia, and
Suriname. The analysis points to a clear income gradient in
possession of emergency supplies needed to cope with
disasters. This gradient can be observed at both the country
and household levels. In contrast, no such income gradient
is observed for other key elements of preparation for
disasters: community disaster management systems and
discussion of risk mitigation strategies within households
(both of which are common in the Caribbean hurricane belt).
There is substantial variation in preparedness to cope with
disasters across sociodemographic groups, as households with
less educated heads, with children, and residing in rural
areas are generally less able to handle disasters. All in
all, a large share of households in all five countries
indicates that they are not prepared to cope with a natural
disaster. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on
disaster risk preparedness, primarily due to households’
deteriorating financial circumstances. |
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