BUILDING RESILIENCE OR BUILDING FRAGILITY? UNDERSTANDING DISASTER RESILIENCE PATTERNS IN GUATEMALA THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF DISASTER DATASETS IN CONNECTION WITH POPULATION AND HOUSING DATA

Abstract

Guatemala is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world due to its exposure to social and systemic vulnerabilities that often exacerbate the occurrences of multiple natural hazards and their interactions. While some research has been carried out on the physical characteristics of the natural hazards, few empirical investigations have explored how disasters have impacted and changed the social landscape and built environments at a national, departmental scale (provinces). This study sought to use archival methods to obtain data related to disaster losses, population, housing characteristics, and household resources from database archives and organizational records to compile it into a unique database and perform spatial and longitudinal analysis methods for the period between 1973 and 2018. This study has identified correlation patterns between disasters and human population rates of growth, as well as roof and wall construction materials of housing. However, correlations were not observed between disasters and essential household utilities such as drinking water supply or toilet types. The findings of this research provide insights for reducing the impact of future disasters by improving the understanding of how population and housing vulnerabilities evolve through time and may be related to the impacts of one or many disasters.