Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
damages and losses, and individual, household
and community resources available to deal with
these. The extent of damages will usually deter-
mine the length of displacement and disruption
to life. Where damage is extensive many people
have to live in temporary housing such as hotels,
mobile homes and rented accommodation for
many months, and lengths of up to a year are
not uncommon. Such displacement can have
significant socio-psychological impacts. Post-
flood disruption to life has been reported in the
UK as the most significant stressor affecting
people's health and well-being (Green et al.
1985; Tapsell and Tunstall 2001; Carroll et al.
2006). Psychological distress is often more reflec-
tive of the difficulties and hardships encountered
during recovery than the impact phase of an
event.
now been developed as means to calculate this
potential risk to life in both quantitative and
qualitative terms (for a review see Priest
et al. 2007; Jonkman and Vrijling 2008). Mortality
associated with a flood depends not only on the
flood characteristics (e.g. depth, velocity and speed
of onset) but also on the way people respond to
floods (Priest et al. 2007). Deaths are strongly
related to risk-taking behaviour, particularly
among males (Jonkman and Vrijling 2008), and
the World Health Organization (WHO 2002) esti-
mates that up to 40% of health impacts due to
flooding result from such behaviour. A high per-
centage of deaths are vehicle-related, and males
are almost twice as likely as females to be killed,
with young people particularly at risk. This high-
lights the importance of flood risk education, as
many people are ignorant of the power of flood-
waters. Recent research in the UK has called for
questions on the risk of driving through flood-
waters to be included in driving test examinations
(Cave et al. 2008).
Evacuation before floods can reduce risk to life
in the case of severe flooding and is frequently
necessary post-flooding as properties will often be
uninhabitable for many months. However, poorly
organized and managed emergency response and
evacuation can add to the distress to those who
are flooded, as evidenced during Hurricane Katri-
na in the USA (Nossiter and Schwartz 2008).
The 2007 UK floods also highlighted the need to
re-evaluate the location of evacuation centres,
as many were themselves flooded (Pitt 2008).
Although all of the above aspects of FRM can
have significant socio-psychological dimensions
and impacts upon those affected by floods, the
majority of such impacts have been reported once
the floodwaters have receded, during the recovery
process.
The world was on its head, wasn't it? Everything
you knew to be normal didn't exist any more.
Nothing was right was it?
Resident, Chesterfield (GfK NOP 2007, p. 33).
Moving back to properties before they are ade-
quately dried and aired can cause further distress;
people in Carlisle were still reporting dampness
and problems 3 years following the 2005 floods
(Fernandez-Bilbao et al. 2008). There is thus a need
for advice on when to reoccupy damp properties
and for definitive guidance on best practice in
drying properties.
Disruption to critical infrastructure and ser-
vices (e.g. water supply) following flooding, and
poor provision of logistical support, can result in
additional distress for those affected, and even for
those not flooded (Pitt 2008), including increas-
ing the risk to public health. Contingency plan-
ning for the loss of such services is crucial, and
better planning is also needed to source essential
supplies in major emergencies (Water UK 2008).
Further issues during recovery relate to dealing
with insurance claims and contractors repairing
and restoring properties. A large-scale study in
England and Wales showed that dealing with
insurance claims was statistically the most
significant factor affecting people's post-flood
Recovery after Flood
Post-Flood disruption and financial concerns
Recovery following flooding is dependent upon a
number of factors, key to which are the extent of
