Toward Self Reliant Communities:

Abstract: This research provides a cross-cultural look at communication’s role in community disaster preparation and recovery. Cultures in three diverse sites were investigated: Individuals and community groups in Thailand’s Phuket and Phang-na provinces which experienced a tsunami in December 2004; in eastern Guyana where flooding devastated coastal areas in January 2005; and in New Orleans, Louisiana, where tens of thousands of people were displaced by the winds of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the waters that breached levees in fall 2005. Analyzing data from in-depth interviews and focus groups with individuals; members and leaders of faith-based and community organizations; and members and representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), this study theorizes about the need for community members to strengthen interpersonal and community communication networks as preparation for and survival during disasters.