Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and Wales as a whole (Pitt 2008, pp. 319-320),
reinforcing the idea that factors other than aware-
ness may be important influences.
Taking out insurance is a common form of
preparedness measure by residents in flood risk
areas. However, lack of risk awareness may mean
that people do not specifically check if their pol-
icies cover them for flooding. The key factor often
seen as important in insurance take-up is social
grade (i.e. income levels, education and awareness)
with those in the lowest social groups and those
living in 'vulnerable' housing significantly less
likely to have insurance cover (Tunstall
et al. 2007). Past experience of flooding and home
ownership can also be important factors in deci-
sions to purchase flood insurance. Tenure is im-
portant in that those not owning or buying their
property are less likely to have insurance of all
kinds (Tunstall et al. 2007), but this has been
found to be dependent upon national tenure cul-
tures; for example, tenure is important in the UK
but not generally so in Germany (Steinfuhrer and
Kuhlicke 2007). However, most of the actions
reported above require individuals or businesses
to take the initiative before a flood event; to date
there have been few institutional pressures to
encourage this.
Institutional measures in the form of emergen-
cy plans for flooding, provision of evacuation
centres and temporary flood defences are other
means of preparedness along with business con-
tinuity and contingency plans. Evidence from the
summer 2007 floods indicates that many organi-
zations and businesses still do not prepare such
plans (ABI 2007). Individual household and com-
munity flood plans also have the potential for
increasing preparedness but as yet have been little
researched. Flood maps may be one way of raising
awareness of flood risk. However, these maps
refer to fluvial and tidal flooding and not to the
increasing risk from pluvial or groundwater
floods. Community flood warden schemes can be
an effective preparedness measure, although war-
dens have been found to be difficult to recruit
and sustain. Recent evidence from England has
shown that such schemes can be successful but
they rely on good community engagement and
people's identity) has thus been shown to be more
significant in preparing for flooding than simply
awareness.
Preparedness actions and measures
Those with prior experience of flooding inside
their home have been shown to be more active in
taking certain preparedness measures, and signif-
icantly more of those who had been flooded three
or more times have taken more drastic preventa-
tive measures (Tunstall et al. 2007). Preparedness
actions taken by households and businesses in
the UK have ranged from keeping alert for flood
warnings during high-risk months, not keeping
irreplaceable items on ground floors and acquiring
sandbags, to moving valuables, personal property
and cars to safety (Tunstall et al. 2007). However,
Harries (2008) argues that one reason why people
do not prepare for flooding is because such mea-
sures are perceived as endangering other needs
that are more immediate and pressing, such as
protecting people's emotional security and their
existing representations of security (e.g. the home
being a safe place), which may result in denial of
being at risk. For others, flood mitigation mea-
sures such as flood gates were rejected as they
lessen the visual conformity of their homes to an
idealized norm, and are often perceived to reduce
the value of properties by alerting potential buyers
to the flood risk.
Signing up to receive flood warnings is one
action that people can take to be prepared for
flooding. Being aware of flood risk and/or experi-
ence of flooding have been highlighted as key
factors in whether people adopt flood warning
technologies (e.g. Tapsell et al. 2004; Fielding
et al. 2006). One assumption is that if people are
aware of and accept the risk, they are much more
likely to be receptive to flood warnings. Multi-
media flood warning dissemination systems now
enable more people to be contacted and also allow
peoplemore choice in the variousmedia viawhich
warnings can be received. However, in 2007 only
20% of people in regions flooded in England had
registered to receive flood warnings when invited,
and the figure rises to only around 41%for England
