Disaster scenes as a foundation for emergency response planning

This article introduces the notion of ‘disaster scenes’. In this work, we draw on interview data collected from residents impacted by the Jagersfontein tailings disaster in South Africa in September 2022. Our methodological aim is to reconstruct the experiences of impacted people in the format of empirically derived disaster scenes. These scenes provide a credible source for modelling scenarios because they showcase the prior, immediate, response and long-term recovery phases of disaster management. Studies that provide empirical detail on the lived experience of disasters confirm the heavy burden placed on impacted people largely originating from institutional decisions. The overarching empirical narrative from this case and other cognate cases is that the absence of state institutions is a factor that likely contributes to disaster events. Our argument is that sharing information that includes models of state default can empower potentially affected groups to demand safeguards and greater transparency in relation to the operation and regulation of tailings facilities. •Disaster scenes provide an insight into the detail required to model behaviour within the different disaster phases.•Direct interactions with impacted people are central to developing credible planning scenarios.•Accurate disaster scenes can support community preparedness when institutions default in the early phases of a disaster.