Analyzing Vulnerability of Lower Income Communities to Natural Disasters

摘要

A natural disaster such as a flood affects all irrespective of age, race, gender, income group, physical ability, and others. In particular, the lower income groups run the highest risks for destitution and permanent displacement after a flood. Previous studies have revealed that the disaster damage borne by lower income groups are considerably higher than others in the society are. However, it is vital to identify the underlying factors affecting their disaster vulnerability according to historical disaster scenarios. This study aimed at revealing the major factors, particularly demographic indicators, that cause the lower income groups to be more affected by floods than others, including the analyses of how each of these factors increase their risks as compared to other groups. This study includes the in-depth analysis of disaster vulnerability of lower income communities in the East Baton Rouge Parish in the state of Louisiana, as it is both prone to floods and has a high population of lower income groups. In this study, we collected the factors that might render a section of the society vulnerable to natural disasters from previous studies and analysed them with respect to the different income groups to identify those, which may have some correlation with the lower income group. The outcomes of this study show that various factors including their geographic location, quality of housing and construction, lack of facilities and infrastructure, and social alienation exacerbate the resilience of the communities against natural disasters.