Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

How Do Social Networks Have Become the “Panacea” or “Protective Firepower” of Flood Victims? A Case of Community Flood Disaster Management in Sri Lanka

Year 2021, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 63 - 73, 29.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.52114/apjhad.998181

Abstract

Social support networks have been become one of the mostly influential metaphors in many areas around the world, especially in terms of mitigating disaster consequences and revivifying disaster affected livelihoods. More importantly, reciprocal supports ties are more powerful in healing disaster wounds of communities. Especially social capital legacies enrich by reciprocal support networks by the ways in which making may hopes among disaster victims. In this context, the objective of this study is to investigate the social support network behaviors in supporting 16 flood-affected households in the mass flooding event occurred in 2017. Particularly, the study researched social support network behaviors at different flood inundation phases such as before, during, and after. This study collected primary data (mainly social network data) using household survey and filed observations. The study used the Social Network Analysis (SNA) method for the network data analysis. This article shows that flood affected households have received social network supports in different magnitudes at before, during, and after flood inundation phases. More importantly, provision of foods, water and basic needs, sheltering, clearing contaminated households, and emotional supports have mobilized and reciprocated among victims in reviving their livelihoods. The social support network legacies have evolved at different flood inundation phases. This study fills the gabs in the flood disaster discourse on Sri Lankan context.

References

  • [1]. O. Mailman, “July was world’s hottest month ever recorded, US scientists confirm”. theguardian (August 13, 2021), Available from: https://www. theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/13/july-worlds-hottest-month-ever-recorded-us-scientists, (Accessed: 01/0 9/ 2021).
  • [2] F. Milhorance, “Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon hits highest annual level in a decade”. Theguardian (August 13, 2021), Available from: https://www. the gua rdian.com/ environment /2021/aug/20/brazil-amazon-deforestation-report-bolsonaro-climate (Accessed: 30/08/2 021).
  • [3] E. Helmore, “At the frontier of the climate crisis, one scientist’s quest to record the ‘invisible world’ of the Arctic”. theguardian (August 14, 2021), Available from: https:// www.theg uardian.com / world/2021/aug/14/ climate-crisis-arctic-wayne-david son, (Accessed: 25/08/2 021).
  • [4] J. Watts, “Canadian inferno: northern heat exceeds worst-case climate models”. Theguardian (July, 02, 2021), Available from: https://www.theguardian.com / en vironment/2021/jul/02/canadian-inferno-northern-heat-exceeds-worst-case-climate-models, (Accessed: 20/08/2021).
  • [5] S. Vesely, et al., “Climate change action as a project of identity: Eight meta-analyses”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 70, 102322. https:/ /doi.org /10. 1016 /j .gloen vcha . 2 0 2 1 .102322, 2021.
  • [6] G.D. Oreggioni, et al., “Climate change in a changing world: Socio-economic and technological transitions, regulatory frameworks and trends on global greenhouse gas emissions from EDGAR v.5.0”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 70, 102350. https:// doi . org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102350, 2021.
  • [7] Staff and agencies/ theguardian, “Turkey flooding death toll reaches 38 as Erdoğan tours disaster zone”. Theguardian (August, 14, 2021), Available from: https :// www.theguardian.com/ world /2021 / aug/14/turkey-flooding-deaths-erdogan-tours-disaster-zone-kastamonu, (Accessed: 22/08/2021).
  • [8] M. Fidler, “Storm Ida: flooding in the US north-east – in pictures”. Theguardian (September 2, 2021), Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ gallery/2021/sep/02/storm-ida-flooding-in-new-york-in-pictures,(Accessed: 05/09/2 021).
  • [9] D. Carrington, “Rain falls on peak of Greenland ice cap for first time on record”. Theguardian (August, 20, 2021), Available from: https://www . theguardian. Com /world/2021/aug/20/rain-falls-peak-greenland-ice-cap-first-time-on-record-climate-crisis, (Accessed: 05/09/2 021).
  • [10] PA Media, “ More than 200 health journals call for urgent action on climate crisis”. theguardian (September, 6, 2021), Available from: https://www.theguardian. Com /environment/ 2021 /sep /06 /more-than-200-health-journals-call-for- urgent-action-on -climate-crisis, (Accessed: 06/09/2021).
  • [11] A.Y. Karunarathne, and G. Lee, “Traditional social capital and socioeconomic networks in response to flood disaster: A case study of rural areas in Sri Lanka”, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 41, 101279, 2019.
  • [12] M. R. Islam, et al., “From coping to adaptation: Flooding and the role of local knowledge in Bangladesh”, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 28, pp. 531–538, 2018.
  • [13] A. Jamshed, I.A. Rana, U.M. Mirza, & J. Birkmann, “Assessing relationship between vulnerability and capacity: An empirical study on rural flooding in Pakistan”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 36, 101109, 2019.
  • [14] R.K. Jha, and H. Gundimeda, “An integrated assessment of vulnerability to floods using composite index –A district level analysis for Bihar, India”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 35, 101074, 2019.
  • [15] A. Y. Karunarathne, “Geographies of the evolution of social capital legacies in response to flood disasters in rural and urban areas in Sri Lanka”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 62, 102359, 2021.
  • [16] J.M. Farley, et al. “Evaluation of flood preparedness in government healthcare facilities in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka”. Global health action, Vol. 10, pp.1-11, 2017.
  • [17] Y.A. Karunarathne, and G. Lee, “Developing a multi-facet social vulnerability measure for flood disasters at the micro-level assessment”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 49, 101679, 2020a.
  • [18] N. Eriyagama, et al., “Actual and perceived causes of flood risk: climate versus anthropogenic effects in a wet zone catchment in Sri Lanka”, Water International, pp. 1-19, 2017.
  • [19] R.R. Churchill, and D.M., Hutchinson, “Flood Hazard in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka: Individual Attitudes vs Collective Action”. Geofonm, Vol.15, no. 4, 17-52, 1984.
  • [20] E.C. Jones, and A.J. Faas, (Eds.), “Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation”. (pp. 11-23). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 2017. [21] J.R. Stevenson and D. Conradson, “Organizational support networks and relational resilience after the 2010/11 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand”. in Eric C. Jones and A.J. Faas, (Eds.), Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation (pp. 161-175). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 2017.
  • [22] M. Mayer, “The family’s burden: Perceived social networks resources for individual disaster assistance in hazard-prone Florida”. in Eric C. Jones and A.J. Faas, (Eds.), Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation (pp. 11-23). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 2017. [23] F.J.Y. Rotberg, “Social networks and adaptation in rural Bangladesh”. Climate and Development, Vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 65-72, 2010.
  • [24] S. Misra, et al. “Social networks in the context of community response to disaster: Study of a cyclone-affected community in Coastal West Bengal, India”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 22, pp. 281–296, 2017.
  • [25] C. Daskon, and T. Binns, “Culture, tradition and sustainable rural livelihoods: exploring the culture–development interface in Kandy, Sri Lanka”. Community Development Journal, Vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 494–517, 2010.
  • [26] A. Y. Karunarathne, and G. Lee, “The geographies of the dynamic evolution of social networks for the flood disaster response and recovery”, Applied Geography, Vol. 125, 102274, 2020b.
  • [27] J. Nalau, and B. Verrall, “Mapping the evolution and current trends in climate change adaptation science”, Climate Risk Management, Vol. 32, 100290. https://doi.org/ 10.1 016 / j . crm.2021.100290, 2021.
  • [28] S.L. Cutter, K.D. Ash, and C.T. Emrich, “The geographies of community disaster resilience”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 29, pp. 65–77, 2014.
  • [29] S. Wasserman, and K. Faust, “Social Network Analysis: Method and Applications”, Chapter 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  • [30] S.P. Borgatti, M.G. Everett, and L.C. Freeman, “Ucinet 6 for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis”. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies, 2002.
Year 2021, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 63 - 73, 29.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.52114/apjhad.998181

Abstract

References

  • [1]. O. Mailman, “July was world’s hottest month ever recorded, US scientists confirm”. theguardian (August 13, 2021), Available from: https://www. theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/13/july-worlds-hottest-month-ever-recorded-us-scientists, (Accessed: 01/0 9/ 2021).
  • [2] F. Milhorance, “Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon hits highest annual level in a decade”. Theguardian (August 13, 2021), Available from: https://www. the gua rdian.com/ environment /2021/aug/20/brazil-amazon-deforestation-report-bolsonaro-climate (Accessed: 30/08/2 021).
  • [3] E. Helmore, “At the frontier of the climate crisis, one scientist’s quest to record the ‘invisible world’ of the Arctic”. theguardian (August 14, 2021), Available from: https:// www.theg uardian.com / world/2021/aug/14/ climate-crisis-arctic-wayne-david son, (Accessed: 25/08/2 021).
  • [4] J. Watts, “Canadian inferno: northern heat exceeds worst-case climate models”. Theguardian (July, 02, 2021), Available from: https://www.theguardian.com / en vironment/2021/jul/02/canadian-inferno-northern-heat-exceeds-worst-case-climate-models, (Accessed: 20/08/2021).
  • [5] S. Vesely, et al., “Climate change action as a project of identity: Eight meta-analyses”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 70, 102322. https:/ /doi.org /10. 1016 /j .gloen vcha . 2 0 2 1 .102322, 2021.
  • [6] G.D. Oreggioni, et al., “Climate change in a changing world: Socio-economic and technological transitions, regulatory frameworks and trends on global greenhouse gas emissions from EDGAR v.5.0”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 70, 102350. https:// doi . org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102350, 2021.
  • [7] Staff and agencies/ theguardian, “Turkey flooding death toll reaches 38 as Erdoğan tours disaster zone”. Theguardian (August, 14, 2021), Available from: https :// www.theguardian.com/ world /2021 / aug/14/turkey-flooding-deaths-erdogan-tours-disaster-zone-kastamonu, (Accessed: 22/08/2021).
  • [8] M. Fidler, “Storm Ida: flooding in the US north-east – in pictures”. Theguardian (September 2, 2021), Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ gallery/2021/sep/02/storm-ida-flooding-in-new-york-in-pictures,(Accessed: 05/09/2 021).
  • [9] D. Carrington, “Rain falls on peak of Greenland ice cap for first time on record”. Theguardian (August, 20, 2021), Available from: https://www . theguardian. Com /world/2021/aug/20/rain-falls-peak-greenland-ice-cap-first-time-on-record-climate-crisis, (Accessed: 05/09/2 021).
  • [10] PA Media, “ More than 200 health journals call for urgent action on climate crisis”. theguardian (September, 6, 2021), Available from: https://www.theguardian. Com /environment/ 2021 /sep /06 /more-than-200-health-journals-call-for- urgent-action-on -climate-crisis, (Accessed: 06/09/2021).
  • [11] A.Y. Karunarathne, and G. Lee, “Traditional social capital and socioeconomic networks in response to flood disaster: A case study of rural areas in Sri Lanka”, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 41, 101279, 2019.
  • [12] M. R. Islam, et al., “From coping to adaptation: Flooding and the role of local knowledge in Bangladesh”, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 28, pp. 531–538, 2018.
  • [13] A. Jamshed, I.A. Rana, U.M. Mirza, & J. Birkmann, “Assessing relationship between vulnerability and capacity: An empirical study on rural flooding in Pakistan”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 36, 101109, 2019.
  • [14] R.K. Jha, and H. Gundimeda, “An integrated assessment of vulnerability to floods using composite index –A district level analysis for Bihar, India”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 35, 101074, 2019.
  • [15] A. Y. Karunarathne, “Geographies of the evolution of social capital legacies in response to flood disasters in rural and urban areas in Sri Lanka”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 62, 102359, 2021.
  • [16] J.M. Farley, et al. “Evaluation of flood preparedness in government healthcare facilities in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka”. Global health action, Vol. 10, pp.1-11, 2017.
  • [17] Y.A. Karunarathne, and G. Lee, “Developing a multi-facet social vulnerability measure for flood disasters at the micro-level assessment”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 49, 101679, 2020a.
  • [18] N. Eriyagama, et al., “Actual and perceived causes of flood risk: climate versus anthropogenic effects in a wet zone catchment in Sri Lanka”, Water International, pp. 1-19, 2017.
  • [19] R.R. Churchill, and D.M., Hutchinson, “Flood Hazard in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka: Individual Attitudes vs Collective Action”. Geofonm, Vol.15, no. 4, 17-52, 1984.
  • [20] E.C. Jones, and A.J. Faas, (Eds.), “Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation”. (pp. 11-23). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 2017. [21] J.R. Stevenson and D. Conradson, “Organizational support networks and relational resilience after the 2010/11 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand”. in Eric C. Jones and A.J. Faas, (Eds.), Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation (pp. 161-175). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 2017.
  • [22] M. Mayer, “The family’s burden: Perceived social networks resources for individual disaster assistance in hazard-prone Florida”. in Eric C. Jones and A.J. Faas, (Eds.), Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation (pp. 11-23). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 2017. [23] F.J.Y. Rotberg, “Social networks and adaptation in rural Bangladesh”. Climate and Development, Vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 65-72, 2010.
  • [24] S. Misra, et al. “Social networks in the context of community response to disaster: Study of a cyclone-affected community in Coastal West Bengal, India”. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 22, pp. 281–296, 2017.
  • [25] C. Daskon, and T. Binns, “Culture, tradition and sustainable rural livelihoods: exploring the culture–development interface in Kandy, Sri Lanka”. Community Development Journal, Vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 494–517, 2010.
  • [26] A. Y. Karunarathne, and G. Lee, “The geographies of the dynamic evolution of social networks for the flood disaster response and recovery”, Applied Geography, Vol. 125, 102274, 2020b.
  • [27] J. Nalau, and B. Verrall, “Mapping the evolution and current trends in climate change adaptation science”, Climate Risk Management, Vol. 32, 100290. https://doi.org/ 10.1 016 / j . crm.2021.100290, 2021.
  • [28] S.L. Cutter, K.D. Ash, and C.T. Emrich, “The geographies of community disaster resilience”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 29, pp. 65–77, 2014.
  • [29] S. Wasserman, and K. Faust, “Social Network Analysis: Method and Applications”, Chapter 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  • [30] S.P. Borgatti, M.G. Everett, and L.C. Freeman, “Ucinet 6 for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis”. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies, 2002.
There are 28 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Civil Engineering
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Ananda Y. Karunarathna 0000-0002-1179-8535

Publication Date December 29, 2021
Submission Date September 20, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 2 Issue: 2

Cite

IEEE A. Y. Karunarathna, “How Do Social Networks Have Become the “Panacea” or ‘Protective Firepower’ of Flood Victims? A Case of Community Flood Disaster Management in Sri Lanka”, APJHAD, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 63–73, 2021, doi: 10.52114/apjhad.998181.
Academic Platform Journal of Natural Hazards and Disaster Management (APJHAD)