Disaster Preparedness and Management in Saudi Arabia: An Empirical Investigation

Authors: Shougi Suliman Abosuliman, Arun Kumar, Firoz Alam

Abstract:

Disaster preparedness is a key success factor for any effective disaster management practices. This paper evaluates the disaster preparedness and management in Saudi Arabia using an empirical investigation approach. It presents the results of the survey conducted by interviewing representatives of the Saudi decision-makers and administrators responsible for disaster control in Jeddah before, during and after flooding in 2009 and 2010. First, demographics of the respondents are presented, followed by quantitative analysis of their views and experiences regarding the Kingdom’s readiness before and after each flood. This is shown as a series of dependent and independent variables. Following this is a list of respondents’ priorities for disaster preparation in the Kingdom.

Keywords: Disaster response policy, crisis management, effective service delivery.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1091130

References:

[1] M. G. Christopher and P. H. Tatham, Humanitarian Logistics: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing for and Responding to Disasters, London: Kogan Page, 2011.
[2] N. S. Rose, "Assessing Flash Flood Risk in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Utilizing Space Data and Hydrological Modeling," in Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of AAmerica, Minneapolis, MN., 2011.
[3] T. Alharbi, "The Cause of Flood Disaster in Saudi Arabia," in Proceedings of the First Saudi International Conference on Crisi and Disaster Management, Riyadh, KSA, 2013.
[4] M. Al Saud, "Assessment of Flood Hazard of Jeddah Area 2009, Saudi Arabia," Journal of Water Resource and Protection, vol. 2, pp. 839-847, 2010.
[5] A. Kumar, "Natural Hazards of the Arabian Peninsula: Their Causees and Possible Remediation," Earth Systems Processes and Disaster Management, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 155-180, 2013.
[6] H. Assaf, "Water Resources and Climate Change," 2010. (Online). Available: http://www.afedonline.org/Report2010/pdf/En/Chapter2.pdf. (Accessed October 2010).
[7] N. Momani and A. Salmi, "Preparedness of Schools in the Province of Jeddah to Deal with Earthquakes Risks," Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 463-473, 2012.
[8] A. Bryman, Social Research Methods, Oxford: University of Oxford Press, 2012.