Community Resilience When Disaster Strikes

Sonny S. Patel, MPH, MPhil, is an award-winning researcher and a former National Institutes of Health Fogarty Global Health Scholar. He is a Presidential Fellow in Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative at Georgia State University and a Visiting Scientist at Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He has received his Bachelors from University of California, Berkeley, his Masters from University of Southern California (Public Health and Global Health Leadership) and King's College London (Psychological Medicine). He has developed protocols, programs, and training to build capacity and knowledge in communities worldwide from subject matters in Public Health, Community Health, and Mental Health to specialized topics in Emergency Management, Community Resilience, and Disaster Risk Reduction. Patel was named a top 40 under 40 Public Health Catalyst by the Boston Congress of Public Health. He was also bestowed with the Emerald Publishing Literati Award in 2021 for Outstanding Research Paper by the Journal of Disaster Prevention and Management. He was recognized by USAID in India as one of the top DevDisruptors in Mental Health (2020) and by NATO peers in Ukraine as a rising star in Environmental Health and Security in Conflict Zones (2018). Patel serves as a Public Health Executive on advisory committees and board of directors of organizations creating positive social and community impacts, such as The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.

1. What is community resilience? How does it apply to coping with uncertainty caused by disasters?.- 2. What do disaster-affected communities say about community resilience? How do specific communities think and apply community resilience?.- 3. What do high flood-risk areas of the UK understand about community resilience?.- 4. How do the elements of community resilience relate to the Negative Outcomes of Flooding? Lessons for coping with uncertainty and future security.- 5. Recommendations to improve community flood security through community resilience approaches.