These results how a community's mindset impacts their resilience. In the four areas surveyed, less than 50% said they evacuated before the hurricanes. Afterwards, the majority of respondents said that they would evacuated. The study found similar results across nearly every category and area of study. After the community was damaged by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, they reevaluated their resilience and collectively decided to better prepare for the future.

How does the Media Affect Disaster Response?

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other areas along the Gulf Coast, Raymond Taras evaluated Cuban and Mexican responses to the US government's response by how each country's newspapers reported on the event.

This paper shows how media plays an important role in guiding the public's impression of a natural disaster. Cultural stereotypes are often reinforced through media framing. Media framing helps justify actions taken by leaders after the disaster and promote national pride.

“To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described"

Mexican Newspaper Responses

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit, Mexican newspapers portrayed their government as more effective than America's in disaster response. This frame was backed up by the aid Mexico sent to Texans after the hurricane.

The newspapers were highly critical of the Bush Administration and compared his response to that of former Mexican president Miguel de la Madrid's insensitive response to a 1985 earthquake. They sympathized with local leaders in New Orleans, framing them as victims of their government's incompetence.

An important aspect of newspaper coverage was racial framing. Reporters highlighted hispanic efforts to rebuild after the hurricane despite racist comments directed at them by New Orleans officials. Mexican natives and hispanics in America were hailed as the backbone of restoration efforts who suffered greatly from racial biases.

Cuban Newspaper Response

Cuban newspapers framed the disaster as a comparison between Cuban and American ideologies. The country's national newspaper, Granma, reprinted American critiques of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina emphasize the American government's failures. The publication also juxtaposed the American relief effort after Hurricane Katrina with the war in Iraq. It questioned how the federal government had the funds to fight overseas but not to help its own people. Like Mexican newspapers, Cuban ones highlighted the racial tensions Hurricane Katrina exasperated in New Orleans.

Other Cuban newspapers echoed what was printed in Granma and emphasized the disorder and chaos of America's relief effort. Capitalism and imperialism were targeted as the main culprits of this failure, further aggravating ideological tensions between Cuba and America.

Resilience in Action

The Cuban response to Hurricane Irma shows the components of resilience in action. The category 4 storm affected 12/15 Cuban Provinces and resulted in only 10 deaths. The steps Cubans take during each disaster phase are prime examples of resilience in action. While Cuba has the benefit of a highly centralized government, similar results can still be replicated in the United States

Disaster Phases

The best example of hazard mitigation in Cuba is its decentralization of its power grid in 2005. Doing this prevented widespread power outages during Hurricane Irma and enabled power to be quickly restored to the 11.5 million citizens who lost it. Data from previous disasters also plays a role in planning and preparing for future disasters.

Preparedness plays a large role in disaster planning. Citizens participate in emergency drills from a young age and are encouraged to participate in local community meetings concerning disaster preparedness.

Healthcare workers are the core of Cuban Disaster response. Before the storm, 9,344 hospital beds were made available before the storm and healthcare workers were sent to evacuation shelters in advance.

After Hurricane Irma, there was an estimated 13 billion USD in damages. As a part of its disaster recovery efforts, the government paid partial reconstruction costs, provided subsidies up to 50% for purchasing building material, and helped survivors secure loans to rebuild their homes.

Resilience over Time

James Mitchell provides a review of disaster resilience in New Jersey over the 20th century. This review shows how communities can adapt to new and existing hazards to become more resilient.

EXPOSURE TO HAZARDS

Exposure= measure of the population at risk

New Jersey's population grew by 447% during the 20th century, with greater amounts of people more densely populated high risk areas. Larger populations put more people and infrastructure at risk for damage from natural disasters, especially along the coast. New Jersey's four oceanfront counties had a population growth of 916% that was characterized by the population of barrier islands and wetlands.

RESISTANCE TO DISASTER

During the 20th century the hazards that were the biggest threats to New Jersey have shifted. This is due to new hazard mitigation and response practices and changing demographics. Examining the how New Jersey adapted to these threats provides a blueprint on increasing resilience and how hazards and responses to them change over time.

Resistance= effectiveness of existing hazard mitigation measures

Forest Fires in NJ

In 1900 forest fires were a fact of life. The state had no organized warning system or evacuation plans. Response and recovery were organized by volunteer firefighters and local communities. By 2000 major changes reduced vulnerability to forest fires. The state established the Forest Fire Service, composed of paid and volunteer firefighters. Personnel were trained and given appropriate tools. Forests fire warning systems were also improved. First there were watchtowers to monitor high risk areas and eventually mapping systems and wildfire models were used to determine risk. These changes did not completely eliminate vulnerability, however. Economic shifts caused more people and capital to move to the peri-Pineland area which is especially prone to forest fires.

Responses to Coastal Storms

In 1900, New Jersey's coast was much less populated than it is today. Storm warning systems along the coast mostly helped offshore seafarers and fisherman. As the coastal population grew, the state's priority shifted to protecting onshore residents and infrastructure. In the 1970s evacuation routes and sirens became commonplace. A system of training and planning for coastal storms was established along with plans for sheltering and rebuilding after storms.

Hurricane Preparedness in Cape May County, NJ

The following provides examples of how disaster planning and community resilience functions in local communities.

Plan Making Process

Hazard Exposures

Cape May County is especially vulnerable to flooding, coastal storms, hurricanes, and wildfires. Hazard mitigation efforts have lessened the likelihood of wildfires in the county, but the other hazards are still threats.

Institutional Resilience

As was mentioned about, Cape May County has a robust hazard mitigation plan, which is an indicator of a quicker recovery after a disaster. The chart below listing 1st and 2nd order indicators shows that Cape May County has a lower proportion of mobile homes than the rest of New Jersey.

Infrastructure Resilience

A second predictor of recovery speed in the infrastructure component is percentage of nonmobile homes.

Environmental Components

The lack of forests and undeveloped land in the county result in less natural protection from natural disasters and could lead to a greater amount of damage in the county after a disaster.

1st and 2nd Order Indicators