Disaster risk management in the Mexican Caribbean. The case study of chetumal, Quintana Roo

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to explain the role of municipal government institutions in disaster risk management in coastal cities of the Mexican Caribbean. The selected city was Chetumal, for being the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and concentrating the institutional powers, as well as, being the cradle of the governmental decisions. A group of public officials was taken as a case study, selected for their experience in hurricane contingencies. The results were compiled with a semi-structured interview, to find out how disaster risk management is carried out in a city where there is a constant threat of hydrometeorological phenomena. The results show the way in which the institutions of three levels of government are intertwined for risk management, the structure of hierarchies, the institutional levels and their attributions, as well as the recognition of some limitations to work in the face of disasters that could be reformed to build a resilient region