The City of Conway was recently contacted by a former professor at Coastal Carolina University. Her home was flooded during Hurricane Florence, and that prompted her interest in researching our city and how we communicate with our residents. She has offered to research and poll our residents on their perceived threats following a large-scale natural disaster and how we can best work as a municipality to assist our residents before, during, and after any natural disaster - such as Hurricane Florence.

Here are more details about the study:

Research Study: Measuring Perceived Community Resilience to Natural Disasters in Conway, South Carolina

Purpose: To examine the perceived threats to citizens in a community within Conway, South Carolina following a large-scale natural disaster and the possible responses by citizens in need of government assistance.

Note to Participants: If you decide to participate, then you will join a study involving research to examine perceived threats to citizens following a large-scale natural disaster. The intent is to examine your feelings about whether your local government could provide assistance before, during, and after a large-scale natural disaster and your feelings about citizen empowerment. If you accept participation, the researcher will conduct a face-to-face or telephone interview with you. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes or one hour.

Benefits: The main benefit for participating in this study is that the findings may improve your local municipality’s understandings of how citizens of Conway, South Carolina perceive their ability to assist citizens before, during, and after a natural disaster. It could also benefit the overall cohesion of your community by identifying the perceived impacts that natural disasters have on your community.

The results of this study may be used in reports, presentations, and publications; but the researcher will not identify participants. Confidentiality will be maintained.

About the Researcher:

Dr. LaMesha “MeMe” Craft  is a retired veteran that moved to Conway, SC in June 2018 to work at Coastal Carolina University. Less than three months later she was personally impacted by the flooding following Hurricane Florence. Her home was flooded, causing her to completely remodel (without flood insurance). In 2016, she conducted a similar study on perceived community resilience in Yuma, AZ for her dissertation. In 2019, she used the results of that study to identify creative means of using communications and social media technology to build resilience and improve citizen disaster preparedness.  

Her research interests include community resilience, social capital, setting the conditions for community development and competence during crises, and emerging threats during post-normal times.