Acceptability of debris-flow disasters: Comparison of two case studies in China

Abstract

Disaster risk perception involves numerous factors. People's awareness towards disaster risk plays an important role for the analysis and adaptation of disaster risk. The public individual factors (age, sex, educational level, occupation, and income) immensely influence disaster risk acceptability. Four indicators (distance, frequency, warning time, and insurance premium) were chosen as representing debris-flow-disaster acceptability to explore the relationship of the indictors among the factors, so as to find out the significant individual factors. Based on-site questionnaire survey and interviews with participants in Zhouqu (northwestern China) and Dongchuan (southwestern China), a total of 459 respondent samples were obtained. By independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Brown–Forsythe test, through comparative analysis of the results, the significant individual factors and the common concerned consequence, indicator acceptability, and influential factors in both areas were identified. The people of Zhouqu and Dongchuan were commonly concerned about environmental destruction. With regard to specific property loss, housing was of the highest concern for the people in both areas. Commonly, frequency acceptability was the lowest; insurance premium acceptability was the highest. Sex and income were the common principal factors significantly influenced debris-flow-disaster acceptability in the two debris-flow-prone areas. These findings may provide critical implications for debris-flow risk analysis and reduction in China.