López-Marrero, T. and B. Yarnal (2010). Putting adaptive capacity into the context of people's
lives: a case study of two flood-prone communities in Puerto Rico. Natural Hazards 52:
277-297.
Abstract:
Recent developments in the vulnerability literature have contested the use of
technical solutions as the sole adaptive strategies to reduce natural hazard impact; this
literature emphasizes the need to attend to the wider everyday risks to which people are
exposed and that aggravate hazard vulnerability. Using a case study of two flood-prone
communities in Puerto Rico, this article supports and enhances that literature by placing
floods within a wider context of other risks and determining how everyday risks influence
people’s perceptions of and capacity to adapt to floods. Participatory methods are used to
elicit the everyday risks that concern community members. The analysis reveals that
participants perceive floods as one of their risks, but they see them as neither the most
important nor most severe risk in their lives. Instead, they find other concerns—health
conditions, family well-being, economic factors, and land tenure—more pressing. These
competing risks limit adaptive capacity and increase vulnerability to natural hazards. The
results suggest that addressing these multiple risks, mainstreaming flood management and
adaptation into the wider context of people’s general well being, and increasing risk
perception will strengthen adaptive capacity to present and future floods.