Community-based Mountain Disaster Risk Management during Emergency Evacuation Process: Evidence from China

The frequent occurrences of mountain disasters have posed a huge threat to the safety of life and property of settlement residents, which bring serious challenges to the post-disaster reconstruction and sustainable development of the affected area, especially in countryside resort areas. The countryside resort areas are populated with tourists whose risk perception and risk behaviours against mountain hazards are unpredictable, which has made the evacuation difficult or even worsened the situation when mountain hazards occur. How to evacuate evacuees to safety in mountain disasters is an important issue for disaster emergency management. By far, little attention has been given to emergency evacuation during mountain disasters in China. Based on mountain disaster events from 2008 to 2019, and 1385 households samples that obtained by stratified random sampling and questionnaire survey, this study has proved ‘Public Participation Monitoring and Warning System’ (PPMWS) is an essential tool to reduce related deaths. Furthermore, the roles and interfaces of different stakeholders in emergency evacuation process are discussed for the purpose to find out the unforeseen circumstances and vulnerable spots. The results show that the farmhouse owners and monitoring personnels play the key roles in emergency evacuation process. The evacuation model led by monitoring personnels is summarized and feasible measures to reduce risks and casualties of mountain disasters are proposed and applied in Longmenshan Town, Pengzhou, Sichuan. The results of this study will improve the efficiency of evacuation and provide scientific support for mountain disaster risk management in mountainous area.