Responses of populations for coping with an extreme event: Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy in the wake of hurricane Irma

• Published in: Territorium
• Main Authors: Defossez, Stéphanie, Gherardi, Monique
• Other Authors: Gouvernance, Risque, Environnement, Développement (GRED), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Laboratoire de Géographie et d'Aménagement de Montpellier (LAGAM), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), ANR-18-OURA-0002,TIREX,Transfert des apprentIssages de Retours d'EXpériences scientifiques pour le renforcement des capacités de réponse et d'adaptation individuelles et collectives dans un contexte de changement climatique (Petites Antilles du Nord - saison cyclonique 2017(2018)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Hurricane; disaster; behaviour; vulnerability; recovery; [SHS.GEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03282045; https://hal.science/hal-03282045/document; https://hal.science/hal-03282045/file/Responses%20of%20populations%20for%20coping%20with%20an%20extreme%20event_Defossez%20et%20Gherardi_Territorium_2021.pdf; https://doi.org/10.14195/1647-7723_28-2_4

International audience The intense hurricane season of 2017 in the North Atlantic brought a number of major hurricanes including Hurricane Irma (cat. 5), which landed on the French islands of St. Martin and St. Barthélemy. These two French Overseas Collectivities, separated by a distance of some 20 kilometres, have very different territorial and social characteristics. The study reported in this article is part of a scientific feedback conducted a few weeks after Irma. The social approach to the disaster conducted within this research framework aims to characterise the behaviour and implications of the inhabitants in the experience of the event, placed in a social and territorial context thanks to narrative interviews administered in situ. The comparative approach reveals similar behaviour before and during the hurricane, but individual and collective social and territorial factors guided very distinct post-event reactions. A intensa temporada de furacões de 2017 no Atlântico Norte incluiu uma série de furacões importantes, como o FuracãoIrma (cat. 5), que afetou as ilhas francesas de São Martinho e São Bartolomeu. Estas duas colectividades francesasultramarinas, a cerca de 20 quilómetros uma da outra, têm características territoriais e sociais muito diferentes. Oestudo relatado neste artigo é parte de um feedback científico realizado algumas semanas depois de Irma. A abordagemsocial da catástrofe conduzida neste quadro de investigação visa caracterizar o comportamento e as implicaçõesdas populações na experiência do evento, colocada no contexto social e territorial, graças a entrevistas narrativasadministradas in situ. A abordagem comparativa revela comportamentos semelhantes antes do evento e durante ofuracão, mas factores sociais e territoriais individuais e colectivos guiaram a reacções pós-evento muito distintas.Palavras-chave: Furacão, desastre, comportamento, vulnerabilidade, recuperação.