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Flood proneness and coping strategies: the experiences of two villages in Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Paul Shitangsu Kumar,
Routray Jayant K.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01139.x
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , flood myth , vulnerability (computing) , coping (psychology) , flooding (psychology) , indigenous , geography , socioeconomics , preparedness , warning system , environmental health , poison control , early warning system , environmental planning , psychology , engineering , computer security , medicine , population , political science , sociology , computer science , ecology , archaeology , aerospace engineering , psychiatry , law , psychotherapist , biology
This paper explores peoples' indigenous survival strategies and assesses variations in people's ability to cope with floods in two flood‐prone villages in Bangladesh. It reveals that people continuously battle against flood vulnerability in accordance with their level of exposure and abilities, with varied strategies employed at different geophysical locations. The paper reports that people in an area with low flooding and with better socioeconomic circumstances are more likely to cope with impacts compared to people in areas with high and sudden flooding. Similarly, households' ability to cope varies depending on people's socioeconomic conditions, such as education, income and occupation. Although floods in Bangladesh generate socioeconomic misery and cause damage to the environment, health and infrastructure, people's indigenous coping strategies have helped them to reduce significantly their vulnerability. Such flood‐mitigating strategies should be well recognised and emphasised further via proper dissemination of information through an early‐warning system and subsequently external assistance.