The Threat of Disaster: Evaluating Resiliency Planning After the 2014 Burlington Flood

This Major Paper examines resiliency literature to understand the imagination and application of resiliency in the face of climate change. I critically analyze the purpose of resiliency and its flaws to provide a comprehensive approach to studying resiliency’s implementation in municipal practices. Flooding is the threat against which municipalities are looking to build resiliency. An analysis of the 2014 Burlington Flood demonstrates how resiliency is imagined and applied through responding to a disaster. I argue in this paper that although there are many challenges in implementing a resiliency imagination, resiliency can ultimately be a tool to integrate mitigation and adaptation opportunities while ensuring an equitable transition towards a just, healthy, and prepared community. By reading this Major Paper and taking a critical look at the use of resiliency, the readers and relevant staff of various municipalities can fully grasp the meaning of this concept and be cognizant of its beneficial attributes and shortfalls.