Disaster risk reduction, community resilience, and policy effectiveness: the case of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in the United States

Abstract

Disasters triggered by natural hazards resulted in an accumulative economic loss of approximately USD 7 trillion and killed some eight million people worldwide in the twentieth century. Given the escalating threat posed by natural hazards to communities, scholars and practitioners are emphasising the importance of mitigation as a strategy to enhance community resilience. Little is known, though, about the extent to which governments' disaster risk reduction efforts have augmented community resilience outcomes. This paper bridges the gap by examining the effects of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) in the United States, which was designed to improve disaster resilience at the community level. The study analysed natural hazard loss data pertaining to those US counties that received HMGP funds following the pronouncement of presidentially-declared disasters between 2010 and 2015. The findings suggest that the counties that obtained HMGP funds are likely to experience less property damage owing to future natural hazards.

Multi‐scalar and multi‐dimensional conceptions of social capital and mental health impacts after disaster: the case of Hurricane Harvey

“…The data that support the findings of the study are available from Lauren A. Clay Cutter, Burton, and Emrich, 2010;National Research Council, 2012;Ross, 2013;Ji and Lee, 2020;Shao et al, 2020). Second, counties are a key locus of local emergency management in the US (Wernstedt et al, 2019;Ji and Lee, 2020).…”

“…22Communities are delineated as counties for three reasons. First, it is in keeping with key research on community disaster resilience (see, for example, Cutter, Burton, and Emrich, 2010; National Research Council, 2012; Ross, 2013; Ji and Lee, 2020; Shao et al, 2020). Second, counties are a key locus of local emergency management in the US (Wernstedt et al, 2019; Ji and Lee, 2020).…”

“…Clay Cutter, Burton, and Emrich, 2010;National Research Council, 2012;Ross, 2013;Ji and Lee, 2020;Shao et al, 2020). Second, counties are a key locus of local emergency management in the US (Wernstedt et al, 2019;Ji and Lee, 2020). Third, our focus on social capital organisations is particularly geared to how they do or do not (depending on the type under review) connect across a community; a smaller geographic unit would mask these wider community connections.…”

A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis of Global Community Resilience Research

“…To explore the effectiveness of government mitigation policies on community resilience, Ji and Lee compared disaster loss data in counties receiving the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) in the United States. The results showed that counties that participated in HMGP were less likely to suffer property damage in future disasters [84].…”

(Mis)trusting the process: how post-disaster home buyout processes can degrade public trust

“…Connecting residents to federal funding, however, requires support from local and state level agencies (Ji and Lee 2021). Their roles in this process are described brie y below:…”