Measuring Natural Hazard-Related Disasters through Self-Reports

Exposure to multiple natural hazard-related disasters will become more common due to climate change. This article reports on the development and validation of a cumulative measure of exposure to natural hazard-related disasters (2013–2017) at the area level, and an individual-level measure of disaster impact using data from the Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child and linked data from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT). Caregiver reports of cumulative exposure to disasters had statistically significant associations with disasters reported by neighborhood officials and with disasters in EM-DAT. Using ecometric techniques we generated a reliable community average measure of exposure to natural hazard-related disasters. Based on neighbor but not individual self-reports this exogenous measure of disaster exposure in the local area was more strongly related to EM-DAT and official neighborhood reports than individual reports. To capture household variation we developed an individual-level measure of disaster impacts. Disaster impact was associated with measures of exposure (individual and community average), community ratings by officials, and EM-DAT but only moderately associated with the community average exposure. Both the community average and disaster impacts measures were associated with household income and the adequacy of income in households.