Insurers can contribute to community resilience after disasters by using local businesses in the recovery period, a new book by James Cook University scientists says.

The book – Disasters and Social Resilience: A Bioecological Approach – draws on studies in Australia and overseas. It says united and connected communities can better ride out catastrophes such as cyclones, floods or bushfires.

“To improve resilience there need to be proper processes in place to make communities internally cohesive and externally connected,” lead author Helen Boon said. “The book shows a zillion examples of how communities are connected and what happens when they are not.”

Australian case studies include flooding at Ingham, cyclone damage at Innisfail, Beechworth bushfires and drought at Bendigo.

From an insurance perspective, concerns were raised over slow responses and the tendency of insurers to direct business outside the local area as the community struggled to recover.

“The communities were not given the contracts for replacing goods that were lost due to floods, cyclones and so on,” Dr Boon told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “The business recovery side of things was not supported, and that is critical when you are looking at community resilience.”

The book also highlights the potential role of governments in helping low-earners access insurance.

“One of the things we recommended was there should be subsidised insurance for those that are most vulnerable, because insurance is clearly critical for recovery,” Dr Boon said.

The book uses Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model – originally designed for studying the development of children – as a framework for examining community resilience.

“Bronfenbrenner’s model provides a quick and holistic overview of all influences upon individuals or communities, so it lets planners quickly and easily determine where support is needed or where successful interventions have had an impact,” Dr Boon said.

She says communities with strong social cohesion, where individuals are highly connected and have a strong sense of place, and those that contain networks fostering social connectivity with external agencies are more likely to be resilient.