Bridging the gap between damaged infrastructures and disaster mortality

Abstract Driven by the lack of global empirical data, there is limited research that analyzed the relationship between infrastructure damage and disaster impact. In this research, we addressed this gap by scraping 79 Post Disaster Needs Assessment reports to collect disaster specific infrastructure damage data for 79 disaster events of this century. Then, we used the data in the Generalized Propensity Score method allowing us to reveal the real effect of infrastructure damage on disaster mortality by accounting for all other confounding factors. We derived an aggregate hazard agnostic response function indicating that damaged infrastructures exponentially increase disaster mortality. We also found that the impact of damaged infrastructures on disaster mortality is more profound among the low- and lower-middle-income countries as compared to overall impact. Lastly, we found that among different infrastructure sectors, the damage to energy, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), and health sectors lead to higher disaster mortality as compared to transport, communication, and education sectors. Through these empirical relationships, this research bridges the evidential gap between damaged infrastructures and disaster mortality that can help decision-makers forwarding infrastructure resilience agendas and prioritizing infrastructure sectors for resilience related investments.