A Review of People’s Behavior in and around Floodwater

Abstract

A study was undertaken to review international literature pertaining to people’s behavior in and around floodwater. The review focused on people’s voluntary entry of floodwater. From the literature, five predominant reasons for entering floodwater were identified, including undertaking a recreational activity; attempting to reach a destination; retrieving property, livestock, or pets; undertaking employment duties; and rescuing or assisting with evacuation. Two primary influences on entering floodwater were found, namely risk perception (i.e., being unaware of or underestimating the risk from flooding) and social influences (i.e., being influenced by others). Demographics and environmental and temporal factors also played a part in decision-making about whether to enter floodwater or not. Emergency managers should take account of such factors when devising future public education strategies. Further research, including comparisons with current theoretical models, could help identify additional influences on decision-making for floodwater entry.

Toward Probabilistic Prediction of Flash Flood Human Impacts

“…Therefore, we propose to explore the suitability of publicly available census data to be considered as proxies for behavioral response in flash flood circumstances. In general, findings from flash flood or flood human‐impact studies were cross‐checked with arguments from the literature on social vulnerability to flooding and natural hazards in general . The indicators quantifying vulnerability and the prominent human risk during flash floods are considered according to the following criteria: The temporal phase of the event: Some indicators can be indicative of vulnerability in the preparation or the recovery but not in the emergency phase of the hazard .…”

“…Being female is often considered as a factor of vulnerability because women generally have lower incomes, which may involve more difficulties in the recovery phase . But during the “event” phase of flash flooding, men have been observed to adopt riskier behaviors than women by entering floodwaters, which make them more vulnerable during that phase The circumstance of the life‐threatening incident: There are proxies that are specific to loss of life circumstances.…”

“…(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37) Therefore, we propose to explore the suitability of publicly available census data to be considered as proxies for behavioral response in flash flood circumstances. In general, findings from flash flood or flood human-impact studies (7)(8)(9)11,23,24,(38)(39)(40) were cross-checked with arguments from the literature on social vulnerability to flooding and natural hazards in general. (5,14,(41)(42)(43)(44)(45) The indicators quantifying vulnerability and the prominent human risk during flash floods are considered according to the following criteria:…”

“…(5,47) But during the "event" phase of flash flooding, men have been observed to adopt riskier behaviors than women by entering floodwaters, which make them more vulnerable during that phase. (7,8,10,23,24,40,48) r The circumstance of the life-threatening incident: There are proxies that are specific to loss of life circumstances. For example, characteristics of buildings such as their integrity and distance to a nearby stream relate to the indoor loss of life circumstances.…”

“…(23)(24)(25)49) Young drivers may be also less aware of flash flood risk (33) and more confident to undertake risky behaviors toward crossing flooded roadways. (32) Median age of residents (years) Extracted from Males are supposed to be more likely to be involved in emergency activities or to undertake risky behavior associated with entering floodwaters in vehicle (7,8,11,25,40,58,59) and, especially, driving through already barricaded roads. (24,37) (Continued) Family-care responsibilities and dependencies can lead to unexpected mobility under extreme weather conditions.…”