When Experience Meets Intensity: How Disaster Context Shapes Emergency Network Structures and Task Coordination Dynamics

How does disaster context shape emergency response coordination? Using an embedded comparative design, we examine how shock intensity and threat familiarity jointly reshape network structures and task sequencing across six Chinese provinces responding to Typhoons Yagi and Bebinca in September 2024. Familiar high-intensity disasters are associated with more integrated, centralized networks, whereas unfamiliar disasters exhibit fragmented coordination characterized by continuous information feedback. Shock intensity shows a consistent relationship with network integration, whereas threat familiarity enables larger mobilization scale without necessarily increasing integration. Recovery operations maintain stability in familiar contexts but show reduced temporal persistence in unfamiliar settings. These findings suggest that disaster governance design may benefit from distinguishing between exploitation-based coordination for familiar threats and exploration-based coordination for unfamiliar events, with implications for regions facing novel hazard exposure under changing climatic conditions.