Coping with tropical cyclone Fani’s impact on housing: roof repair as a strategy

Purpose A tropical cyclone produces high wind speeds, impacting houses, particularly the semi-engineered and non-engineered types. This paper aims to understand how people in Puri district of Odisha, India, where approximately 278,000 houses were affected by tropical cyclone Fani in 2019, coped with its impact in the immediate context and over a period of time. It explores the government strategy of distributing polythene sheets for damaged house’s roof, those households’ experiences with such an arrangement, and in ways the house damage assessment is interlinked with “repair” as a strategy. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative study that follows a case study method. It uses data collected from the field with secondary-sourced data such as reports and documents. Fieldwork was conducted in four coastal blocks of the most affected Puri district. In total, 14 focused group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in 10 villages and 5 personal interviews with key informants to triangulate findings derived from the FGDs. Findings The study finds that although, in the immediate context, the polythene sheets were helpful for cyclone-affected families to return to their own houses, they lasted much longer than expected and, in some cases, turned out to be permanent ones. Further, in the absence of clear guidelines on criteria for conducting damage assessment, the process was repeated several times, causing inordinate delays in receipt of assistance and leading to exclusion of those who repaired their houses. The study calls for a housing recovery framework that integrates house repair as a strategy, includes those without land tenure and bridges the gap between financial assistance and the cost of house repair. Originality/value Research attention directed at the impact of tropical cyclones on the built environment, specifically on housing, and consequent recovery challenges is underexplored. This study seeks to fill this gap, examines the efficacy of “roof repair as a strategy” in a Global South context and its role in achieving housing recovery. Further, in highlighting the gaps in how housing damage assessment is carried out, the study advances the need for a framework that brings together different aspects for a smooth recovery.