Flood ‘Survivors’ or Flood ‘Dependents’? A Sociological Reading of Flood ‘Victims’ in Urban Sri Lanka

Abstract

Often, flood affected people are identified as ‘flood victims’ where such persistent portrayals not only limit their identity but also overlook their experience as ‘flood survivors’ during post disaster contexts. This study aims to examine the role of flood affected people in the post flood disaster context particularly during reactive/response, recovery and reconstruction stages. Using the purposive sampling method, fifty flood affected households in Kolonnawa were selected to conduct a household survey. Further, twenty-five in-depth interviews with flood affected people and two structured interviews with officials were conducted. Being a constantly vulnerable group living in a geographically flood prone area, these flood affected people are frequently identified as flood victims. Though the research findings suggest that they have later transformed into flood survivors during the post flood disaster context, their continuous identification and uncritical representation as flood victims have positioned them to hold on to their identity more as victims rather than survivors. Subsequently, the continuous flow of material and social assistance received from outside agencies including the government, international non-governmental organizations and non-affected voluntary support groups in the long-term post disaster context has encouraged them to be flood dependents as opposed to survivors. This chapter argues how the overwhelming material and social dependency of flood affected people prompts them to hold on to their flood dependent role circumscribing their autonomous engagement in effective post-disaster rebuilding and future mitigation.