Toward Self Reliant Communities A Cultural Comparison of Disaster Response in Thailand, Guyana and the United States
Abstract
This research provides a cross-cultural look at communication’s role in community disaster preparation and recovery. Cultures in three diverse sites were investigated: Individuals and community groups in Thailand’s Phuket and Phang-na provinces which experienced a tsunami in December 2004; in eastern Guyana where flooding devastated coastal areas in January 2005; and in New Orleans, Louisiana, where tens of thousands of people were displaced by the winds of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the waters that breached levees in fall 2005. Analyzing data from in-depth interviews and focus groups with individuals; members and leaders of faith-based and community organizations; and members and representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), this study theorizes about the need for community members to strengthen interpersonal and community communication networks as preparation for and survival during disasters.
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Note: This project was supported by The Tokyo Foundation under the Joint Initiatives Program (JIP). This paper is original and has not been presented previously. An earlier version was presented at the May 2007 International Communication Association (ICA) annual conference in San Francisco, California
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Copyright (c) 2014 Deborah Clark Vance
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