Bridging the gap between damaged infrastructures and disaster mortality

This study analysed the relationship between infrastructure damage and disaster impact. It does so by scraping 79 Post Disaster Needs Assessment reports to collect disaster-specific infrastructure damage data for 79 disaster events of this century. Then, the author used the data in the Generalized Propensity Score method allowing us to reveal the real effect of infrastructure damage on disaster mortality by accounting for all other confounding factors. They derived an aggregate hazard agnostic response function indicating that damaged infrastructures exponentially increase disaster mortality.

The researchers also found that the impact of damaged infrastructures on disaster mortality is more profound among the low- and lower-middle-income countries as compared to overall impact. Lastly, they found that among different infrastructure sectors, the damage to energy, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), and health sectors lead to higher disaster mortality as compared to transport, communication, and education sectors. Through these empirical relationships, this research bridges the evidential gap between damaged infrastructures and disaster mortality that can help decision-makers forwarding infrastructure resilience agendas and prioritizing infrastructure sectors for resilience related investments.