Flood warning and the local community context.

"Proceedings of the International Conference "Flood Protection of Towns - Ideas and Experiences" 20-22 September, 1995, Krakow, Poland"

Bibliography: p. 12

Focuses on householders' experiences in two communities where few flood warnings were issued or received: Ferguslie Park in Strathclyde, Scotland (serious flood in December 1994); and North Muirton in Perth, Scotland (serious flood in January 1993). Special attention is paid to the perceptions held of emergency response and evacuation by those flooded during the impact and post-disaster phase of the respective floods. The aim of the study is to identify the requirements of flooded householders through in-depth discussions with them, conflicting in some cases the assumptions held by emergency managers and hazard researchers alike. The discussion centres on three groups identified as vulnerable when faced with severe flooding: the elderly, children and women, set within the wider constraints of poverty and lack of choices. Issues include the elderly's dislike for change and aggravation, children's inability to express their trauma, the additional burden women carry in times of disaster, family breakdowns, and other community wide concerns. Consideration of local community characteristics is found to be particularly relevant when planning for emergency response, especially when members of the community may represent a valuable source of early flood warning to the authorities - thereby enhancing the overall performance of the emergency warning and response system.