ABSTRACT
Population shifts and a changing climate are expected to contribute to greater vulnerability to disasters in rural America (Jensen, 2009). In an eff ort to build more resilient communities, a key focus in the study of disasters has been identifying local-level capacities that can improve the community’s ability to respond to-and subsequently minimize hardship from-future disasters (Adger et al., 2004; Birkmann, 2006; Norris et al., 2008). Managing a large-scale disaster usually entails working within an intergovernmental structure with overlapping jurisdictions (Moynihan, 2009). This means local community agencies (e.g., law enforcement, Red Cross, utility companies) need to work collectively with federal disaster management teams to coordinate a response-usually in a networked structure. Integrating the diverse array of responding agencies into a coordinated response can be fraught with challenge, especially under the stressful conditions of disasters. Nonetheless, the ability to eff ectively navigate these complex relationships has been recognized as an essential element of resilience in disaster management (Cutter et al., 2008; Norris, et al., 2008).
