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

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Abstract

The major objective of this paper is to identify the vulnerability factors and examine the effectiveness of disaster mitigation measures undertaken by individuals, government and non-government organisations to mitigate the impacts of cyclones in the Bangladesh coast experiencing from Cyclone Aila. The primary data were collected from two villages of southwestern coastal areas of Bangladesh using questionnaire survey and interviews of the key informants. The data were analysed using the descriptive and inferential statistics. This paper reveals that the disaster management measures have a significant role to lessen the impacts of the cyclonic event, especially in pre-disaster preparedness, cyclone warning message dissemination, evacuation and post-disaster rehabilitation. The households, who have access to shelter, find weather forecast regularly and adopted pre-disaster awareness measures are relatively less susceptible to hazard’s impacts. The disaster management measures undertaken by individuals and GOs and NGOs help coastal people to save their lives and property from the negative impacts of cyclones. The analysis shows that the NGOs’ role is more effective and efficient than the GOs in cyclone disaster management. This paper identifies distance to shelter, participation in disaster training, efficient warning, etc. as the influential factors of vulnerability cyclones. The analysis finds the households as less affected who have adopted disaster preparedness measures. However, this paper concludes that the effective and proper disaster management and mitigation measures are very crucial to shield the lives and properties of the Bangladeshi coastal people.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kishoreganj, 2300, Bangladesh

    Md. Nazir Hossain

  2. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh

    Shitangsu Kumar Paul

Authors
  1. Md. Nazir Hossain
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  2. Shitangsu Kumar Paul
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Correspondence to Md. Nazir Hossain.

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Hossain, M.N., Paul, S.K. Vulnerability Factors and Effectiveness of Disaster Mitigation Measures in the Bangladesh Coast. Earth Syst Environ 2, 55–65 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-018-0034-1

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