Building Community Resilience: Lessons from Flood-affected Residents in a Regional Australian Town

Abstract

This article discusses the relevance and usefulness of a community development approach and community resilience in coping with natural disasters such as floods and their impact. In March 2017, a major flood in Lismore, Australia, resulted in extensive damage to homes and businesses and caused severe disruption and distress to some residents. A small qualitative study of 20 residents was conducted to understand how they were affected in flooded areas in terms of their housing and other impacts. The narrative and thematic analysis of respondents’ stories ‘from the ground’ highlighted both the problems with some institutional responses to the flood and the strength of the community response. One of the key findings was the resilience shown by some parts of the community during and after the flood, particularly in terms of communal self-organisation. This article interrogates that finding in-depth and argues that it provides valuable insights into community resilience and a community development approach, which need to be consciously cultivated to combat the impact of disasters.