Understanding Flood Risk Perception: A Case Study from Canada

Abstract

In recent years, understanding and improving the perception of flood risk has become an important aspect of flood risk management and flood risk reduction policies. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of flood risk in the Petite Nation River watershed, located in southern Quebec, Canada. A survey was conducted with 130 residents living on a floodplain in this river watershed, which had been affected by floods in the spring of 2017. Participants were asked about different aspects related to flood risk, such as the flood hazard experience, the physical changes occurring in the environment, climate change, information accessibility, flood risk governance, adaptation measures, and finally the perception of losses. An analysis of these factors provided perspectives for improving flood risk communication and increasing the public awareness of flood risk. The results indicated that the analyzed aspects are potentially important in terms of risk perception and showed that the flood risk perceptions varied for each aspect analyzed. In general, the information regarding flood risk management is available and generally understandable, and the level of confidence was good towards most authorities. However, the experiences of flood risk and the consequences of climate change on floods were not clear among the respondents. Regarding the adaptation measures, the majority of participants tended to consider non-structural adaptation measures as being more relevant than structural ones. Moreover, the long-term consequences of flooding on property values are of highest concern. These results provide a snapshot of citizens’ risk perceptions and their opinions on topics that are directly related to such risks.

Place Identity and Traumatic Experiences in the Context of Wildfires

“…This higher perception of control was also associated with the feeling of being judged and a higher place identity, as well as age and the number of evacuations experienced. Previous studies have found that the experience of residents is a determinant of perceived risk, providing a better understanding and knowledge of risk [49]. It has also been associated with the intention to prepare [25].…”

Designing and Psychometric Evaluation of a Questionnaire for Assessing Society's Perception of Flash Flood Risk

“…However, there is a limited number of tools available to evaluate society's perception of flash flood risk, and the present study aims to fill this gap by providing a new tool specifically tailored to evaluate the perception of flash flood risk in Iran (11)(12)(13)(14).…”

Using the theory of planned behavior to identify key beliefs underlying flood‐related adaptive behaviors in the province of Québec, Canada

“…Numerous typologies of behavior that people can adopt in anticipation of a flood have been proposed (e.g., Dillenardt et al, 2022; Noll et al, 2022; van Valkengoed et al, 2022). One of these typologies, which distinguishes between structural measures (i.e., what is done on a house or land, such as waterproofing foundations) and nonstructural measures (i.e., what does not affect the house itself, such as drawing up an inventory of personal property) was used in several studies (e.g., Mondal et al, 2021; Noll et al, 2022; Oubennaceur et al, 2022; Valois et al, 2019; Valois, Bouchard, Talbot, et al, 2020). However, few studies have assessed if and how households and individuals adopt and implement structural adaptation measures and behaviors while also aiming to identify the key psychosocial determinants of their adoption (Babcicky & Seebauer, 2019; Grothmann & Reusswig, 2006; Valois et al, 2019; Valois, Tessier, Bouchard, et al, 2020).…”