Impact of local governments' disaster management capacity on the mitigation of natural disaster damage and the reduction of resilience costs

Key Points

• This research aims to empirically analyze the relationship between local government disaster management capacity and the mitigation of natural disaster damage and resilience costs.
• Examined the disaster management capacities of local governments in South Korea, including fire, administrative, policy, institutional, and financial aspects.
• Analyzed data on natural disaster impacts, focusing on damage and resilience costs across different regions and disaster management practices.
• Utilized evaluation results to assess the effects of financial resources and disaster management protocols on disaster mitigation.
• Increased personnel per capita in fire services was associated with reduced natural disaster damages and resilience costs.
• A higher number of local residents per safety center correlated with increased disaster damages and costs.
• Positive disaster management evaluations were linked to diminished disaster impacts.
• Regions designated as special disaster areas showed lower disaster damages, while more hazard mitigation zones correlated with higher damages.
• Increases in disaster management funds were associated with higher disaster damages, while fire safety grants led to reductions in costs and impacts.