Multihazards Scenario Generator: A Network-Based Simulation of Natural Disasters

Explain the challenges of evacuation in floods based on the views of citizens and executive managers

Background

Flood is one of the natural hazards that causes a lot of human and financial losses. Emergency evacuation in the response phase is necessary to reduce damage. The present study was conducted to explain the challenges related to evacuation in floods based on the views of citizens and executive managers.

Materials and methods

In this study, a qualitative research method with a contractual content analysis approach was used. 27 participants including 10 citizens and 17 executive managers were included in the study by purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. In order to have confidence the validity of the results, rigor was certified by using the guidelines suggested by Guba and Lincoln for making trustworthiness. The duration of the interview was between 45 min and 60 min. The interviews were handwritten by line-by-line content analysis and then analyzed.

Results

Data analysis led to the extraction of 6 main categories with 14 sub-categories including: lack of primary warning system (with 2 sub-categories, lack of national early warning system and lack of attention to early warning), insufficient resources (with 4 sub-categories, lack of equipment, lack of manpower Human resources, inadequate allocation of financial resources and lack of information resources), problems related to unpreparedness (having 2 sub-categories, lack of pre-determined program and lack of attention to public education), problems related to emergency housing (having 2 sub-categories, lack of housing program and lack of attention to indigenous culture in housing), lack of risk perception (has 2 sub-categories of people's belief in floods and officials' belief in flood) and problems related to lack of coordination (has 2 sub-categories of internal disharmony and external disharmony).

Conclusion

To increase evacuation, it is necessary to identify the relevant challenges. Establishing an early warning system and evacuation plan, supply of resources, and increase risk perception and coordination can increase the speed of evacuation and reduce the financial and human losses caused by floods.

Multi-hazard perception during COVID-19: Evidence from rural communities in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Risk perception in a multi-hazard environment improves the ability of risk prioritization management. The undertaken approaches to reduce the negative impacts of the disaster differ from the single hazard's effects. This work applies an online survey targeting West Sumatra-Indonesia rural communities, aiming to examine their perception of multi-hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistical results show that drought, the COVID-19, and earthquakes were perceived to have a proportionally more significant effect on rural communities. Unlike urban areas, rural characteristics have created barriers for the COVID-19 to spread. As a result, the economic sector is considered as the most important factors in comparison to health. Labor migration and social conflicts become more apparent, whereas farmer groups were absent in providing basic supports to their members. Likely, borrowing cash from relatives and financial institutions would be the most applicable option to reduce farmers' vulnerability.