John Handmer

Centre for Risk and Community Safety

& Bushfire CRC

RMIT University

Do communities recover well from

disaster?

Rapid change & definitions

• Recovery needs to be understood in the context of rapidly changing communities, economies, environments & climate.

• Climatic disasters occur on top of existing trends and stresses, and may exacerbate them – or provide opportunities.

• Definitions determine the answer to the recovery question

Recovery?• “Back to normal” for a community that has little

official income, lack of insurance, with people who can leaving, assets running down, and essential services withdrawing, poor health status …[Fires & droughts]

• recovery as an opportunity to improve/ develop/build capacity/etc. “It is not possible to go back to a pre-disaster state….we can move forward or backward. Recovery programs should be developmental rather than remedial”. [eg Cyclone Larry]

Community

• Do we mean the spatially defined community there before disaster or after? Which sector of the economy? (the Cyclone Larry housing story is normal);

• What recovery is depends on where we are, how severe the event is, and whose perspective we take.

Local economic vitality• We argue that local economic vitality is the key to

recovery from most if not all disasters. Networks (which may be dormant and emerge after the disaster) are also key – but often do this by encouraging cash flow [eg - Viet in New Orleans];

• This means “flows” not assets by themselves … while assets are being repaired/replaced people will need cash flow. More debt?

• Recovery support may undermine the local economy, or target part of the economy that is less important to local people.

Capacity

• ‘People affected by a disaster are more likely to make a good recovery if they have access to appropriate levels of support, including support from a high quality [mental & physical] health system’. The National Rural Health Alliance (2004: 8).

• The longevity gap is almost 20 years.

Recovery and resilience?

• Recovery starts at impact;• Recovery officers could be community

development facilitators; • Some groups treat recovery as an ongoing

process of community strengthening –– including health and networks;

• This would involve identifying & reducing vulnerabilities before disaster.

To help ensure recovery?Remove impediments:

EXTERNAL:• Failure to draw on local sources/suppliers • Complex bureaucracy /delays / decision

paralysis

INTERNAL/INDIVIDUAL: • Lack of insurance• High levels of debt – servicing and increasing• Health (mental & physical)• Resilience

Support facilitating factors:

• Leadership

• Networks/social capital

• Promote market mechanisms, eg insurance

• Local economic flows

• Support livelihoods by normal coping mechanisms – eg off-farm employment

• Identify trends and vulnerabilities

•

http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/galleries/bushfires/pages/Fire.htm

Crises may be unavoidable

But we can do much to reduce the short & long term impacts