Abstract
This research focused in disaster management caused by extreme rainfall in the semi-arid basin of the Limarí River, Chile. The main objective was to analyze the institutions and community involvement in disaster management, and to propose, together with the community, adoption of appropriate management measures, in order to decrease social vulnerability to extreme rains.
Data regarding type, location and recurrence of disasters were collected. A structured survey was applied to public servants at different hierarchical levels, while the affected population was interviewed.
The main results of the project show that extreme rains tend to affect the same places that previous years. There are also noticeable differences in the level of community organization, which result in better-poor disaster management. The current legal structure allows for organized community participation, and provides legitimation with local governments, and articulation with superior hierarchical levels. However, it is still more frequent to find emergencies responses from the public sector, than the need of implementing an appropriate long-term risk management. Therefore, it is still necessary to plan the implementation of appropriate measures that allow the decrease of the social vulnerability in the long run, for example distribution of information. Some of these were discussed by the community during a workshop with the researchers.
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