OPEN ACCESS
Flood events have far-reaching consequences, not only in economic or financial terms but also in social and health-related impacts. There is a growing body of research that suggests that property-level flood risk adaptation (PLFRA) measures have the potential to benefit homeowners by reducing the impact of flooding on households. Emphasis has, therefore, been placed on the implementation of PLFRA measures, and yet despite this, the take-up among the at-risk residents in England is low. One of the reasons identified in the literature is that homeowners do not clearly recognise the benefits of the measures. This research uses a survey of households affected by the summer 2007 flood event in England to investigate the perception of homeowners in connection with the benefits of PLFRA measures. The results highlight that there is a consensus among respondents that implementing adaptation measures has the potential to reduce health-related flood impacts such as worrying, stress and strain between families. However, there was a high level of uncertainty with regard to potential financial benefits from investing in adaptation measures, in the form of premium reduction by insurers. It was evident from the analysis that knowledge of the frequency of future flood events and expected flood damage rated highly among the factors perceived by homeowners to influence the uptake of PLFRA measures. Furthermore, the results show that there is a wide range of opinion among the respondents as to who is responsible for protecting homes against flood risk. For instance, the government flood protection scheme has the potential to provide a confusing message to floodplain residents as to whose responsibility it is to protect properties against flood risk. It is, therefore, recommended that at-risk population should be made aware of the limits of the responsibilities of other stakeholders in the domain of flood risk management at household levels. However, it is anticipated that the introduction of the new UK flood insurance scheme, Flood Re, may help to bring more clarity. There is a need to increase the motivation of homeowners to invest in PLFRA measures, which could be achieved through a range of actions, including the provision of subsidies and incentives, which would help in promoting more sustainable behaviour.
intangible impacts, inter-rater indices, property-level flood adaptation, resilience measures, resistance measures
[1] Environment Agency, Flooding in England: A National Assessment of Flood Risk, Environment Agency: Bristol, 2009.
[2] DEFRA, Climate Change Risk Assessment for the Flood and Coastal Erosion Sector, DEFRA: London, 2012.
[3] Soetanto, R., Proverbs, D., Lamond, J. & Samwinga, V., Residential properties in England and Wales: an evaluation of repair strategies towards attaining flood resilience.
Hazards and the Built Environment: Attaining Built-in Resilience, ed. L. Bosher, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group: London and New York, pp. 124–149, 2008.
[4] Neal, R., Bell, S. & Wilby, J., Emergent disaster response during the June 2007 floods in Kingston upon Hull, UK. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 4(3), pp. 260–269, 2011. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318x.2011.01110.x
[5] Evans, E.P., Ashley, R., Hall, J., Penning-Rowsell, E., Sayers, P., Thorne, C. R. & Watkinson, A., Foresight. Future Flooding, vols 1 and 2, London, UK: Office of Science and Technology, 2004.
[6] Kazmierczak, A. & Bichard, E., Investigating homeowners’ interest in property – level flood protection. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 1(2), pp. 157–172, 2010. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17595901011056622
[7] Joseph, R., Proverbs, D., Lamond, J. & Wassell, P., An analysis of the costs of resilient reinstatement of flood affected properties: a case study of the 2009 flood event in Cockermouth. Structural Survey, 9(4), pp. 279–293, 2011.
[8] Thurston, N., Finlinson, B., Breakspear, R., Williams, N., Shaw, J. & Chatterton, J., Developing the Evidence Base for Flood Resistance and Resilience, Joint Defra/EA Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management R&D. DEFRA: London, 2008.
[9] Wassell, P., Ayton-Robinson, R., Robinson, D., Joseph, R., Hack, K., Butler, D., Salkeld, I. & Twomey, J., Resilient Reinstatement: The Costs of Flood Resilient Reinstatement of Domestic Properties. Association of British Insurers: London, 2009.
[10] IPCC, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, A special report of working groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2012.
[11] Lamond, J.E. & Proverbs, D.G., Resilience to flooding: lessons from international comparison. Urban Design and Planning, 162(DP2), pp. 63–70, 2009. doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1680/udap.2009.162.2.63
[12] Mark, E.K., Building human resilience: the role of public health preparedness and response as an adaptation to climate change. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35(5), pp. 508–516, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.022
[13] Kreibich, H., Thieken, A.H., Petrow, T., Müller, M. & Merz, B., Flood loss reduction of private households due to building precautionary measures – lessons learned from the Elbe flood in August 2002. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 5, pp. 117–126, 2005. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-5-117-2005
[14] Crichton, D., Flood Risk and Insurance in England and Wales: Are There Lessons to be Learned From Scotland? Benfield Hazard Research Centre. London: University College London, 2005.
[15] DEFRA, Draft Flood and Water Management Bill, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: London, 2009.
[16] Lamond, J. & Proverbs, D., The long term financial implications of flooding and flood risk to homeowners. 44th Defra Conference in Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM09), Telford, 2009.
[17] Proverbs, D. & Lamond, J., The barriers to resilient reinstatement of flood damaged homes. Proceedings of 4th International i-Rec Conference-Building Resilience: Achieving Effective Post-disaster Reconstruction, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2008.
[18] Pitt, M., The Pitt Review – Learning Lessons from the 2007 Floods. H M Government Cabinet Office: London, 2008.
[19] Wallingford, H.R., Development of Spatial Indicators to Monitor Changes in Exposure and Vulnerability to Flooding and the Uptake of Adaptation Actions to Manage Flood
Risk in England. London: Committee on Climate Change Adaptation Sub-Committee, 2012.
[20] Bubeck, P., Botzen, W.J.W., Suu, L.T.T. & Aerts, J.C.J.H., Do flood risk perceptions provide useful insights for flood risk management? Findings from central Vietnam. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 5(4), pp. 295–302, 2012. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ j.1753-318x.2012.01151.x
[21] Joseph, R., Proverbs, D., Lamond, J. & Wassell, P., A critical synthesis of the intangible impacts of flooding on households. International Conference in Building Resilience: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Disaster Risk Reduction and the Development of Sustainable Communities, Sri Lanka, 2011.
[22] DEFRA, Flood Risk and Insurance: A Roadmap to 2013 and Beyond. Final Report of the Flood Insurance Working Groups. DEFRA: London, 2011.
[23] Reacher, M., Mckenzie, K., Lane, C., Nichols, T., Iversen, A., Hepple, P., Walter, T., Laxton, C. & Simpson, J., Health impacts of flooding in Lewes: a comparison of reported gastrointestinal and other illness and mental health in flooded and non-flooded households. Communicable Disease and Public Health, 7(1), pp. 1–8, 2004.
[24] Warren, R., Tindle, A. & Whalley, R., Flood resilient repairs and resistance measures:
qualitative and quantitative research to examine the views of consumers. ABI Research Paper No. 28, Association of British Insurers, London, 2011.
[25] Met Office 2007, June 2007 – Record Rainfall. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/ interesting/june2007/index.html, 2007 [accessed 03/05/2013].
[26] Stuart-Menteth, A., U.K. Summer 2007 Floods, Risk Management Solutions, Inc.: Newark, USA, 2007.
[27] Chatterton, J., Viavattene, C., Morris, J., Penning-Rowsell, E. & Tapsell, S. M., Delivering benefits through evidence: The costs of the summer 2007 floods in England, Environment Agency: Bristol, 2010.
[28] Gray, D., Doing Research in the Real World, Sage, London, 2004.
[29] Dillman, D.A., Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, Wiley, 2007.
[30] Creswell, J.W. (ed.), Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches, Sage Publication: Thousand Oaks, CA, 2003.
[31] Creswell, J.W., Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 3rd edn., Sage: London, 2009.
[32] Soetanto, R., Proverbs, D.G. & Nicholas, J., Assessment of flood damage to d omestic properties: surveyors’ perceptions of flood characteristics. Proceedings of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research Conference, Nottingham Trent University, 5–6 September, pp. 154–168, 2002.
[33] Samwinga, V., Homeowner satisfaction and service quality in the repair of UK flooddamaged domestic property, PhD Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 2009.
[34] Sutrisna, M., Developing a knowledge based system for the valuation of variations in civil engineering works, PhD Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 2004.
[35] Whitmarsh, L., Are flood victims more concerned about climate change than other people? The role of direct experience in risk perception and behavioural response. Journal of Risk Research, 11(3), pp. 351–374, 2008. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/13669870701552235
[36] Harries, T., Householder responses to flood risk. The consequences of the search for ontological security, PhD Thesis, Middlesex University, 2007.
[37] JBA, Evaluation of the Defra Property-level Flood Protection Scheme, Environment Agency: Bristol, 2012.
[38] Tinsley, H.E. & Weiss, D.J., Interrater reliability and agreement of subjective judgments. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 22(4), pp. 358–374, 1975. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.1037/h0076640
[39] Manu, P.A., An investigation into the accident causal influence of construction project features, PhD Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 2012.
[40] Bliese, P.D., Within group agreement, non-independence and reliability. Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions, eds. K.J. Klein & S.W.J. Kozlowski, Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2000.
[41] Tuuli, M.M., Empowerment and control dynamics in project teams: A multi-level examination of antecedents, job performance, and consequences, PhD Thesis, University of Hong Kong, 2009.
[42] Anvuur, A.M. & Kumaraswamy, M., Promises, pitfalls and shortfalls of the guaranteed maximum price approach: a comparative case study. Proceedings of 26th Annual ARCOM Conference, Association of Researchers in Construction Management, 6–8 September, Leeds, UK, pp. 1079–1088.
[43] James, L.R., Demaree, R.G. & Wolf, G., Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69(1), pp. 85–98, 1984.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.69.1.85
[44] Cohen, A., Doveh, E. & Eick, U., Statistical properties of the rwg(j) index of agreement. Psychological Methods, 6(3), pp. 297–310, 2001. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1082989x.6.3.297
[45] Norwich Union, UK Householders Fear Flood Risk is Increasing, available at http:// www.norwichunion.com/media-centre/story/2327/uk-householders-fear-flood-risk-isincreasing/, 2005 (accessed 29th December).
[46] Werritty, A., Houston, D., Ball, T., Tavendale, A. & Black, A., Exploring the social impacts of flood risk and flooding in Scotland. Scottish Executive Social Research, 2007.
[47] Owusu, S., Wright, G. & Arthur, S., Public attitudes towards flooding and property level flood protection measures. International Conference on Flood Resilience; Experiences in Asia and Europe, 5–7th September 2013, Exeter: United Kingdom, 2013.
[48] Lamond, J.E., The impact of flooding on the value of residential property in the UK. PhD Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 2008.
[49] Wedawatta, G., Ingirige, B. & Proverbs, D., Small- and medium-sized enterprises and flood impacts: the case of the 2009 flood event in Cockermouth. Journal of Flood Risk Management, pp. 1–12, 2013.
[50] Dhonau, M., Sherwood-Rogers, J. & Burton, R., Homeowners Guide to Flood Resilience A living Document, Lichfield: RAB Consultants, 2011.
[51] Brent, R.J., Cost–Benefit Analysis and Health Care Evaluations, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd: Cheltenham, 2003.