The importance of institutional and community resilience in post-disaster reconstruction - Rebuilding After Disasters: From Emergency to Sustainability - page 235

lack of choices, striving to live in regions that are dominated by mangrove
swamps, brackish rivulets, aquaculture tanks and paddy fields. 22
For the purposes of this study, the district of East Godavari was selected for
research (Figure 12.1) because of the tropical cyclone (07B) disaster that af-
fected the area in November 1996 and the subsequent vulnerability-reduction
initiatives undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh state government and local non-
governmental organisations (NGOs). These vulnerability-reduction initiatives
included the construction of community cyclone shelters, storm-warning
systems, improved evacuation measures, hazard mapping and enhanced
community preparedness through education programmes in cyclone-prone
areas. 19,22
Research was undertaken as part of a study conducted in Andhra Pradesh
between February 2002 and September 2003. The study was focused on
the investigation of the social and institutional aspects of vulnerability and
resilience to disasters in Andhra Pradesh. Cartographic surveys of eight
case-study villages and over 200 questionnaire surveys, 24 semi-structured
interviews and five focus-group meetings were undertaken with village
inhabitants, local and regional government officials and personnel working
for local NGOs involved with disaster-management-related activities.
It was observed that the provision of basic needs such as shelter, drink-
ing water, education and healthcare facilities can be strained at the best of
times but the situation after a disaster is typically much more desperate. 3
Figure 12.1 Location of Andhra Pradesh and the case-study districts. Andhra
Pradesh is the third largest state in India, covering 275,000km 2 .
Bordering the Bay of Bengal, it is located in one of the world's most
cyclone-prone regions. 3