How infrastucture failures affect community’s disaster resilience
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The physical presence or proximity of essential services to communities doesn’t guarantee availability during or after disasters. Researchers from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, studied how hazards impact communities, specifically focusing on whether essential services remain functional after an event.
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Researchers, using coastal flooding events in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a case study, discovered that when functional isolation is included in their assessment, disaster impacts significantly increase as follows:
- When indirect effects were considered, non-functional amenities increased by 114% to 178%, and isolated residential buildings rose to 198%.
- When accounting for how different infrastructure systems are connected, the number of services that stopped working, like supermarkets, hospitals, and schools, increased by 114%, 178%, and 142%, respectively.
- For people who weren't fully isolated, access to essential services was still heavily impacted, with travel distances to services increasing by 0.5 to 1 km and, in some cases, up to 27 km.
These findings show the importance of including functional isolation in disaster risk assessments, emergency planning, and strategies to improve community resilience. The method used in this study can be applied in many different situations, helping urban planners, policymakers, and emergency response management personnel better prepare for various types of hazards.
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