Introducci´ on y Hechos preliminares

In Fiji, both aid organisations and community members spoke of a lack of preparation for disasters as being about the normalisation of these events, rather than deliberate complacency. There is a perception that cyclones are

normal - “We are fine, that’s the usual cyclone and it’s been here forever since

I was born, so after this we will recover. That’s a village perspective” (Fiji, aid organisation representative). The community interviews supported this

perception, with people saying that cyclones do not really change people’s behaviour, but that things return to normal and people do not think about it afterwards. Some people thanked me for coming to their village to talk to them about the issue:

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…you wake me up again. Because we know the cyclone,

so sometimes we don't bother, last year or this year. But when you came here to do your researching about the climate, so you wake me up to be prepared, like that

(Fiji, male villager, aged 60+).

There was general agreement that people both within the community and within Fiji as a whole, do not really talk about cyclones and other disasters much outside of the disaster season. An aid organisation representative said - “Now one of the things is that if you listen to all the radio stations that are on

right now, nobody talks about the disasters, until they happen” (Fiji, aid

organisation representative). One villager’s summary was simply “After the

cyclone they are ready for it” (Fiji, male villager, aged 35-45 years). It seems that sometimes the complacency and normalisation of disasters manifests itself simply in not being overly concerned about cyclones unless there actually is one, but at other times it extends to a lack of preparation when there has been a warning. I was told a story in the village of radio warnings for Cyclone Kina in 1993 being ignored by most of the village, even though there was one family trying to spread the warning message.

As ever though, there is always more complexity to the situation. One aid organisation representative talked about preparation for a cyclone as being risky. The context was harvesting crops to protect them from an oncoming cyclone, and that if the cyclone turns out not to be severe or to change

direction, then some of the harvested crops may be wasted. Acting on a disaster warning is a conscious decision, and many factors will influence the when, how and why of that decision. Normalisation of disasters is one of those many factors.

The responses on Tonga during the main fieldwork were slightly different. A lack of preparation and taking warnings seriously was due to a combination of warnings happening most years, and a long time since the last major cyclone, with the biggest cyclone in memory being back in 1982. Smaller cyclones are commonplace and, similar to in Fiji, seen as being just part of life in the Pacific. The lack of experience with a more devastating cyclone is viewed as an impediment to good preparation:

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My friend say to me ‘I’m feeling sorry because my family do not know that you already warn me, but I don’t do anything for my family. That’s the first time for me to see the cyclone’. And I said ‘that is my third time with a cyclone, you first time. Next time you will understand

what to do when the cyclone is coming (Tonga, male

villager aged 60+ years).

The person telling this story did not even consider smaller events to be cyclones at all. In his view, stronger cyclones reach hurricane strength winds, and until then, do not really count. This attitude ties in well with the

complacency around having only experienced regular, smaller cyclones - ‘you think you know what you need to do because you know what it’s like, but that’s nothing’.

Some of the older community members in Tonga saw a clear distinction between those who are old enough to recall Cyclone Isaac in 1982, and those who do not, or who are new to the island and did not experience it:

He is talking about the real people in ‘Uiha. They were worried about the notice about the wave or cyclone. Except the newcomers to ‘Uiha. The newcomers to ‘Uiha, they don’t worry about anything, because they have not met any waves, see the waves or see the cyclone

(Tonga, male villager aged 46-59 years, through an interpreter).

Supporting this view, government representatives in Australia working on disaster response, have noted that people with experience of a particular disaster are better at coping with them (Boon, 2014). The experience on Cyclone Ian also provides support. During the feedback trip when villagers were asked about preparations for Ian, some said that the warnings on the radio were qualitatively different to in previous years, giving a clue that this time should be taken more seriously. However, for most people, it was just another warning. Even when natural warning signs were also observed, many thought they just indicated bad weather, rather than a major cyclone, and dismissed

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them. There is a consensus among villagers that Ian has shocked them, and that while before they did not really care too much, next time around they will be prepared.

The dominant view in Tonga that a lack of experience with bigger cyclones leads to complacency around preparation does not bode well for the future. The predicted impact of climate change on cyclones in this region is for less

frequent but stronger and longer lasting events (see section 1.3). This would mean that at any one time, there is likely to be a larger proportion of the population with no living memory of a large cyclone. According to the perceptions and experience in Tonga, this is likely to mean that larger proportion of the population is not taking preparations, the key to survival, seriously.