Abigail Sumner
Tara Checko
As climate-induced disasters such as hurricanes grow more frequent and severe in Puerto Rico, communities across the archipelago are increasingly relying on mutual-aid networks to protect one another.
A set of emergency preparedness strategies developed by a Puerto Rican mutual-aid hub and WPI students may advance the effectiveness and sustainability of those grassroots efforts.
In new research published in the journal Disasters, WPI students and faculty advisors associated with the university’s San Juan, Puerto Rico, Project Center report on the creation of the Disaster Response Mobilization System (DRMS), a community-based emergency management system. The DRMS was co-designed and co-piloted with Centro de Apoyo Mutuo, Las Carolinas, a mutual-aid hub based in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
“The DRMS reflects the reality that neighbors often serve as first responders in Puerto Rico,” says Tara Checko ’25, one of the authors on the research article. Other authors were Abigail Sumner ’25, John-Michael Davis, assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies (DIGS), and Sarah Molinari, an assistant teaching professor in DIGS.
The authors identified three insights from the development of the DRMS that could advance the effectiveness and sustainability of community-based disaster preparedness:
- The DRMS can serve as one approach within a broader community engagement and resilience planning process.
- Community-driven implementations of the DRMS can build preparedness and provide an entry point for marginalized communities to connect to other networks of pre- and post-disaster support.
- Volunteer-based community disaster preparedness efforts face sustainability and scalability challenges and require support from additional relevant stakeholders.
