With the rising number of extreme events that are impacting even the most prepared countries in the world in terms of disaster, the days of disbelief that climate crisis will only be felt in the distant future and remote corners of the globe is over. Just last week, a powerful typhoon slammed western Japan causing heavy rain to flood a major airport and strong winds to blow a tanker into a connecting bridge, disrupting land and air travel.

As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify causing irreparable damage to communities and ecosystems, the more we need to prepare and learn how to adapt to the changing climate. This would require learning from past disasters or climate-related events and applying what we learned in our day-to-day lives.

In the recently published articles of the Climate, Disaster and Development Journal, experts used the past extreme events such as Typhoons Yolanda (Haiyan) and Pablo (Bopha) as study cases towards realizing resilient systems and improving local disaster planning and governance for future disaster situations.

The first article assesses transportation resilience in Leyte, analyzing how a weakened transport system exacerbates disaster vulnerability, specifically manifested in the restricted mobility and access of people and communities immediately after an extreme event (Read more).

The other paper investigates the adaptation gaps between recovery and reconstruction interventions and user expectations, based on roundtable discussion, household survey and conjoint analysis (Read more).

The full articles can be downloaded from the Climate, Disaster and Development website.