Abstract

• Rakhine State is claimed to be the most disaster-prone area in the country. Rakhine state faced 13 times of cyclones between1948-2017. Among them the cyclone that hit the area in 1968 killing 1037 people and cyclone Marlar that lashed in 2006 leaving 37 deaths were the most destructive. Myanmar ranks first as “most at risk” country in Asia. Tsunami, Cyclone and storm surge affected all coastal areas (2004 Indonesia Ocean Tsunami, 2006 Marlar Cyclone, 2008 Nargis Cyclone, 2010 Giri Cyclone, 2015 Komen Cyclone). National Disaster Management Committee was reformed in 2016 in Rakhine state for preparedness and emergency response plan. Risk perception is strongly associated with disaster preparedness because individuals must perceive a risk to be motivated to initiate preparedness actions (Kanakis et al (2016). Myanmar Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction (MAPDRR) was introduced (lastly updated in 2017) and a year later the legislation passed the Natural Disaster Management Law. In the Action Plan of 2017, 32 priority actions have been formulated. For these priority actions, responsibilities are defined for different administrative and spatial levels. The paper based on the institutional preparedness and response for cyclone risk in Rakhine state. Semi-structured interviews, Likert scale and qualitative methods to analyse experts interviews such as institutions in Sittway town which are involved in disaster risk management and preparedness are also conducted with ward administrator and local experts and different institutions. twenty expert interviews conducted were in beginning of 2020. Statistical data collected from Department of Disaster Mangement, Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation etc;. This paper examines how risk preparedness varies among institutions and community levels.