Disaster Resilience and Adaptive Capacity in Central Florida, US, and in Eastern Marmara Region, Turkey

The article assesses current disaster resiliency policies and practices in Central Florida in the US and in the Eastern Marmara Region in Turkey from a comparative perspective. It identifies core principles and links community resiliency to disasters and to essential behavioral, motivational, affective, and cognitive dynamics, and ultimately to important community outcomes. While Florida appears more prepared and disaster resilient in comparison to the Marmara Region in Turkey, neither region is immune from disasters. The multiplicity of factors affecting community resilience makes inter-sector collaboration imperative for both cases. The article pays special attention to the inclusion of community related demographic, geographic, social, economic, and political factors in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.