Contribution of the Characteristics of the Disaster Affected People to Practice the Disaster Coping Strategies

Abstract

A study was conducted in Gangachara Upazila of Rangpur district, Bangladesh from September to December 2018 to determine how the characteristics of affected individuals contribute to the implementation of coping methods during disasters. Information was gathered from a sample of 302 respondents, chosen at random from the population affected by the disaster through both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Among the nineteen personal, economic, and social factors of the disaster-affected individuals, fourteen showed a positive association, two showed a negative relationship, and three showed no significant relationship with their disaster coping strategies. Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified six key variables that significantly contributed to explaining 33.6 percent of the total variations: education (23 percent), income generating activities (3.6 percent), awareness about social safety net programme (2.9 percent), disaster affected land (1.2 percent), farm size (1.9 percent), and perception of climate change (1.0 percent). Path analysis indicated that disaster-affected land had the highest direct positive value (0.589), while farm size had the highest overall indirect influence (0.643) on disaster coping strategy practices. The order of importance for the disaster coping strategies practiced by affected people is as follows: disaster affected land, education, participation in income generating activities, awareness about social safety net programme, perception of climate change, and farm size.