Disaster, demographics, and vulnerability: Interrogating the long‐term effects of an extreme weather event

• Published in: Geographical research Vol. 60; no. 4; pp. 549 - 562
• Main Author: García‐Hernández, Cristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Carlton South Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2022
• Subjects: Appreciation; Births; Censuses; Change agents; Climate; Demographics; Demography; disaster; Environmental risk; Extreme weather; Extremes; Fertility; Inequality; Infants; Livelihood; Mortality; Natural disasters; Nuptiality; Parishes; population change; Snowstorms; Social factors; social vulnerability; Sociodemographics; Vulnerability; Weather; Women
• ISSN: 1745-5863; 1745-5871
• DOI: 10.1111/1745-5871.12550

Climate risk events act on existing inequalities, causing unequal damage across social groups and showing that established vulnerability should be a key consideration in preventing and mitigating the consequences of weather extremes. The disastrous snowfalls that affected Asturias in Northern Spain in the winter of 1888 provide an intriguing and useful historical example of why such consideration is vital. This article is based on analysis of church records and population censuses of 22 mountain parishes over a 21‐year period. It examines the long‐term sociodemographic impacts of that weather event and reveals dramatic changes in fertility, mortality, and nuptiality. Marriages and births decreased by 67% in the 2 years following the snowstorms, when the highest levels of mortality were reached. The excess mortality especially affected those adults over 70, infants under 5, and, most notably, women. A livelihood crisis was at the base of these long‐term effects. Those demographic impacts point to the event’s severity and show that the repercussions of a disaster go far beyond deaths and material losses and are deeply rooted in social factors. These findings reinforce the idea that reconstructing old disastrous episodes is of great social and scientific interest now. That is because, as governments and others are progressively paying more attention to the possibilities of adaptation to global change, there is greater appreciation of the fact that delving into the long‐term impacts of past natural disasters can guide our main future strategies. This article analyzes the effects on health and family planning of disaster‐affected populations in the aftermath of a climate risk event in Asturias in Northern Spain and shows how historical data can be relevant for contemporary adaptation and mitigation strategies. The sociodemographic effects of the Great Blizzard of 1888 lasted for more than 2 years: Mortality increased markedly among the elderly and newborns and was higher in women; marriages and births fell by 67%. Confirmed demographic impacts constitute indicators of high severity for the disaster.