Rural Prospects for Resilience: Planning Sustainable Livelihoods and Coping with Flood Hazards along the U.S. Mississippi River

Abstract

In this research, we examine the principles of social and economic resilience to flood hazards within the US Mississippi River Basin between 1990 and 2010. To address community response to natural hazards, we analyzed community resilience planning using integrated spatio-temporal modeling with content analysis and case study research. Triangulating empirical evidence from a mixed-methods approach allows contextual understanding of planning effectiveness with respect to rural community resilience. Results suggest that effort focused on coordinated and strategic planning acts to reduce adverse effects of natural hazards in hazard-prone counties. These strategies involve long-term planning, land use policies, structural mitigation, and nonstructural mitigation measures to reduce community vulnerability to flood risk thus advancing more sustainable rural livelihoods.