2018-04-10 S&O Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 4 - Local Disaster Recovery Subplan

7.3     Economic recovery
Disasters can cause devastating and widespread economic impact. Houses, businesses and
community infrastructure may be damaged or destroyed and people’s livelihoods may be
temporarily and sometimes permanently disrupted. While physical damage is the most visible
economic impact, less obvious impacts such as loss of income from disruption of trade can often
be more significant and extend well after infrastructure has been repaired or replaced.

7.3.1   Categories of economic impacts after disaster

Household:
 Loss of employment and/or income (loss of livelihood)
 Loss of household assets
 Instability or loss of social networks
 Increased costs due to short supplies of goods and services
 Lack of childcare and school facilities

Business and industry:
 Loss of supply chain networks
 Loss or damage to business assets
 Loss of employees due to business closure and migration of skilled staff
 Infrastructure damaged or devastated
 Damage to or loss of natural resources

Communities are economically disadvantaged when individuals are unable to work, either
because their place of employment has been impacted by the disaster event or by other
disruptions, such as school and childcare closures. Being able to work in paid employment or to
run a business profitably empowers affected individuals and motivates communities to regain
charge of their lives by meeting their own needs as they best see fit. The consequences of
extended periods of downtime in trading or production can result in:
 Loss of experienced workers
 Depleted customer base due to temporary or permanent population shrinkage
 Forced sale of stock
 Business closure or forced sale of businesses
 Bankruptcy

7.3.2   Economic impact assessment and needs analysis

Assessing the impacts of emergencies and disasters is integral to the recovery process. Impact
assessments provide communities and policy makers with invaluable information about how a
disaster manifested and what needs to be done to return the community to normal as well as
helping to identify strategies to build back stronger. These assessments can inform future
disaster risk management, as well as broader sustainability goals.

7.3.3   Measuring economic impact

Measuring the economic impacts of a disaster can be a complex undertaking and needs to be
strategic in nature. The principle reference for disaster loss assessment in Australia is the
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience Disaster Loss Assessment Guidelines (Manual
27)(2002). It provides guidance on assessing disaster loss primarily for the purpose of planning
and justifying future risk mitigation and community resilience measures.

Due to the complexity of undertaking an economic impact assessment some specialist expertise
will be required. At a minimum some members of the Economic Subgroup should have formal
experience or training in disaster loss assessment or economics.

Noosa Local Disaster Recovery Subplan 2018                                              Page 61