Mehiriz Kaddour, Gosselin Pierre
Centre Eau, Terre et Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Québec, Québec, Canada.
Institut National de la Santé Publique du Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada.
PLoS One. 2016 Sep 20;11(9):e0163390. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163390. eCollection 2016.
The study of the management of weather-related disaster risks by municipalities has attracted little attention even though these organizations play a key role in protecting the population from extreme meteorological conditions. This article contributes to filling this gap with new evidence on the level and determinants of Quebec municipalities' preparedness for weather hazards and response to related weather warnings. Using survey data from municipal emergency management coordinators and secondary data on the financial and demographic characteristics of municipalities, the study shows that most Quebec municipalities are sufficiently prepared for weather hazards and undertake measures to protect the population when informed of imminent extreme weather events. Significant differences between municipalities were noted though. Specifically, the level of preparedness was positively correlated with the municipalities' capacity and population support for weather-related disaster management policies. In addition, the risk of weather-related disasters increases the preparedness level through its effect on population support. We also found that the response to weather warnings depended on the risk of weather-related disasters, the preparedness level and the quality of weather warnings. These results highlight areas for improvement in the context of increasing frequency and/or severity of such events with current climate change.
尽管市政当局在保护民众免受极端气象条件影响方面发挥着关键作用，但对其与天气相关的灾害风险管理的研究却很少受到关注。本文通过提供关于魁北克市政当局对天气灾害的准备程度及其对相关天气预警响应的水平和决定因素的新证据，有助于填补这一空白。利用来自市政应急管理协调员的调查数据以及关于市政当局财务和人口特征的二手数据，该研究表明，大多数魁北克市政当局对天气灾害有充分准备，并在接到即将发生极端天气事件的通知时采取措施保护民众。不过，各市政当局之间存在显著差异。具体而言，准备程度与市政当局应对与天气相关灾害管理政策的能力和民众支持呈正相关。此外，与天气相关的灾害风险通过对民众支持的影响提高了准备程度。我们还发现，对天气预警的响应取决于与天气相关的灾害风险、准备程度和天气预警的质量。这些结果凸显了在当前气候变化导致此类事件频率和/或严重程度增加的背景下需要改进的领域。
