ABSTRACT
This chapter examines disaster risk reduction (DRR) practices in five municipalities exposed to hurricanes in the Yucatn peninsula, Mexico. It explores differences between municipal DRR practices, five municipalities in the Yucatn peninsula that were selected for comparison: three in the State of Yucatn and two in the State of Quin-tana Roo. These municipalities share a number of biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics: all are on the coast and have high levels of exposure to hurricanes and similar levels of socioeconomic marginalization, as determined by the National Population Council's marginalization index, a multidimensional measure of deficiencies in education, housing, income and access to basic utilities. State and federal governments have ecological land-use planning laws and in both Quintana Roo and Yucatn these are being applied to limit the growth of settlements on the coast, but states and municipalities are doing little to prevent buildings going up in flood-prone areas inland.
