A comprehensive method for evaluating marine disaster risk reduction capacity in China

Abstract

A region's capacity for marine disaster risk reduction is characterized by the resources that can be mobilized. These resources include pre-disaster defense, disaster monitoring, warning, emergency response, post-disaster restoration, and reconstruction. It is a very important index to effectively evaluate the regional capacity to overcome marine disasters. At present, there is no unified model and method for comprehensively evaluating the regional marine disaster reduction capacity. This study proposes a novel evaluation index system for a county-level administrative region using expert opinions, questionnaires, and analytic hierarchy process methods. Based on the comprehensive evaluation in three pilot areas, the current situation of regional marine disaster reduction capacity is analyzed, which would contribute to the effective management of marine disaster risks in the future. The results and experiences are of great value to future disaster reduction capacity assessment promotion and practice in all coastal counties of China.