Composite Measures of Local Disaster Impact - Lessons from Typhoon Yolanda, Philippines

When disaster strikes, determining affected areas and populations with the greatest unmet
needs is a key objective of rapid assessments. This note is concerned with the logic and
scope for improvement in a particular tool, the so-called "prioritization matrix", that has
increasingly been employed in such assessments. We compare, and expand on, some
variants that sprang up in the same environment of a large natural disaster. The fixed
context lets us attribute differences to the creativity of the users grappling with the
intrinsic nature of the tool, rather than to fleeting local circumstances. Our recommendations may thus be translated more easily to future assessments elsewhere.