Living with the Risks of Cyclone Disasters in the South-Western Coastal Region of Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract:Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Cyclone disasters that affect millions of people, destroy homesteads and livelihoods, and trigger migration are common in the coastal region of Bangladesh. The aim of this article is to understand how the coastal communities in Bangladesh deal with the continuous threats of cyclones. As a case study, this study investigates communities that were affected by the Cyclone Sidr in 2007 and Cyclone Aila in 2009, covering 1555 households from 45 coastal villages in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. The survey method incorporated household based questionnaire techniques and community based focus group discussions. The pre-event situation highlights that the affected communities were physically vulnerable due to the strategic locations of the cyclone shelters nearer to those with social supreme status and the location of their houses in relatively low-lying lands. The victims were also socio-economically vulnerable considering the high rate of illiteracy, larger family size, no ownership of land, and extreme poverty. They were mostly day labourers, farmers, and fishermen. Post-event situation reveals that the victims' houses and livelihoods were severely damaged or destroyed. Most victims were forced to shift their occupations (e.g., from farmers to fishermen), and many became unemployed. They also became heavily dependent on micro-credits and other forms of loans. A significant number of people were displaced and migrated to large urban agglomerations in search of livelihoods to maintain their families back in the affected villages. Migration was primarily undertaken as an adaptation strategy.

Vulnerability Factors and Effectiveness of Disaster Mitigation Measures in the Bangladesh Coast

“…Geographically, both villages are part of islands, which are edged by three giant rivers i.e., Kholpetua, Kobadak and Shakbaria. Both are the south-most settlements on the southwestern coast of Bangladesh before the Sundarbans (Mallick et al 2017). The villagers are predominantly dependent on the resources of the Sundarbans, and fishing is the primary sources of livelihood of the communities.…”

“…It is the initial grounds of disaster, which is the function of susceptibility to exposure and coping capacity of the people to reduce the risk at a certain time (Blaikie et al 2014). Few studies have investigated thoroughly the background factors of vulnerability to cyclones (Mohiuddin and Latif 2015;Saha 2015); causes, consequences and mitigation of cyclone induced disaster (Ali 1996;Paul 2009;Mallick and Vogt 2013) and cyclone shelters' suitability (Mallick 2014) and coastal settlements, livelihood and migration pattern (Mallick et al 2017;Quader et al 2017). Besides, Webster et al (2005), Bengtsson et al (2007), Elsner et al (2008) and Knutson et al (2010) justify the increasing propensity of frequency and intensity of tropical cyclone in warming climatic environment.…”

“…About 190 deaths, 7100 injuries and vast damages of property were the immediate impacts of that cyclone (DDM 2009;IFRC 2010). The population along with the infrastructure, agriculture, livestock and economic development is at a high-risk situation due to the low-lying areas of Bangladesh coast, which is frequently susceptible to cyclones (Alam 2017;Mallick et al 2017). Therefore, the cyclone induced disaster mitigation is the main concern in the country.…”

Perceptions of Cyclone Preparedness: Assessing the Role of Individual Adaptive Capacity and Social Capital in the Wet Tropics, Australia

“…Much of this scholarship has examined the factors that influence people's adoption of protective behaviours (rather than perceived preparedness) in a variety of different hazard contexts, such as earthquakes (e.g., [16]), volcanoes (e.g., [17]), floods (e.g., [18]), cyclones (e.g., [19][20][21]), and wildfires (e.g., [22]). Some of the factors thought to influence hazard preparedness include an individual's perception of risk (e.g., [23]), which often differs from expert assessments (e.g., [24]), past experiences of natural disasters (e.g., [25]), and perceived self-efficacy (e.g., [10]).…”

Strategy Formulation and Adaptation Pathways Generation for Sustainable Development of Western Floodplain of Ganges

“…The presence of the world's largest continuous mangrove forest provides food and nursery for the offshore fishery, protection of the coasts from storm surges and cyclones, domestic and commercial products, recreation and tourist services, and habitat for shrimp and other cultivable species [22]. The western floodplain of the Ganges contains 43 polders (Figure 3), often belonging to the first Figure 3.…”