Disaster and Development Interface

Performance of Critical Infrastructure during Kerala Floods (2018)

Abstract

Recent disaster events all over the world have shown an abnormal increase in the frequency and magnitude of climate and weather associated disasters. Floods are one of such devastating, detrimental, and lethal disasters among all such events. Kerala floods-2018 was one such episode of a record-breaking cascade. During these floods, an excess of 42% downpour during the monsoon season resulted in unprecedented inundation causing about 477 fatalities, 12.47 lakh people were stranded, and around USD 36.71 million in infrastructure was lost. Huge losses and disruptions to essential infrastructure and services that are susceptible and exposed (such as WASH, power, transportation, telecommunication, health and education, etc.),, disturbing the developmental gains of the State, were reported. Considering the importance of vital infrastructural facilities in determining a region's socioeconomic well-being, the present paper aims at outlining the vital relationship between the disasters and development by analyzing damage patterns to the infrastructural systems of Kerala, India, as a result of the 2018 Kerala floods. A range of mitigation measures to safeguard such crucial facilities, such as interventions in early warning systems, involvement of the local government and communities in the planning and implementation process, and emergency response management, etc. have been proposed for the region's integrated, holistic, and comprehensive disaster management.