Perspective of flood-affected households on flood prevention: The case of the Ahr Valley after the July 2021 flood disaster

Heavy rainfall and flooding hit central Europe in July 2021 - with the Ahr Valley in Rhineland-Palatinate attaining sad notoriety. More than 130 people died there, and more than 9,000 buildings were damaged or even destroyed [1]. As part of the BMBF-funded KAHR project, we conducted a comprehensive household survey in the county of Ahrweiler in the aftermath of the flood disaster, in which 516 affected persons participated. One focus of this survey was on prevention and precautionary measures.

It is striking that the majority of respondents rated all prevention fields as (very) important, from private building precautions, technical and natural flood protection and planning precautions to early warning and precautions by the insurance industry. In an earlier survey by Weißer et al. on preparedness for heavy rain events, the pattern was much more mixed [2]. It is also interesting to note that in our study private building precautions are ranked lowest (mean value), whereas in the study by Weißer et al. they are considered most important. 

Various aspects play an important role when deciding to implement precautionary measures. Respondents rated existence/availability of information on the effectiveness of the measure (mv = 4.99) as most important, followed by existence/availability of counseling and assistance services (mv = 4.85). Low financial expenditure (mv = 4.46) and acceptance of the measure in the household (mv = 4.43) are also considered very important by many. Slightly less important, on the other hand, appear the feasibility of the measure without external help (mv = 3.97), the low time expenditure (mv = 3.92), the acceptance in the community (mv = 3.83) and the joint implementation with other neighbors (mv = 3.31) - nevertheless, almost 30%, e.g., perceive the latter reason as (very) important in the decision for or against a precautionary measure. Neither age nor gender nor household income have a major influence on the rating of importance. Only household income has a weak effect on the reason of joint implementation with other neighbors (the lower the income, the more important the reason), as does gender on the reasons of feasibility without external help, availability of information on effectiveness, and availability of counseling and assistance services (these aspects tend to be more important for female respondents).

Furthermore, 71.2% of respondents disagree (at all) with the statement that flood prevention is primarily a task of private households. Yet, according to the German Water Resources Act, sec. 5 para. 2, every person who may be affected by floods is obliged to take flood precautions within their means.

The findings from such a survey can help to strengthen resilience building in the reconstruction after such a devastating disaster as well as likewise in the pre-disaster phase.

 

References

1. Die Landesregierung Rheinland-Pfalz. Ein Jahr Wiederaufbau in Rheinland-Pfalz nach der Naturkatastrophe vom 14./15. Juli 2021, Mainz, 2022. Available online: https://wiederaufbau.rlp.de/fileadmin/wiederaufbau/2022/07-Juli/Ein-Jahr-Wiederaufbau-in-RLP.pdf (accessed on 6 December 2022).

2. Weißer, B.V.; Jamshed, A.; Birkmann, J.; McMillan, J.M. Building Resilience After Climate-Related Extreme Events: Lessons Learned from Extreme Precipitation in Schwäbisch Gmünd. J. of Extr. Even. 2020, 07, 2050010, doi:10.1142/S2345737620500104.