Types of Behavior of Flood Victims around Floodwaters. Correlation with Situational and Demographic Factors

Michalis Diakakis

doi:10.3390/su12114409

Abstract

Recently, human behavior around floodwaters has been acknowledged as one of the factors that influence the risk of fatal incidents. The present study analyzes the behavior of flood victims by developing a systematic classification of their actions at the time of the flood. Based on this taxonomy, the study examines a flood fatality database for Greece (1960–2019) to quantify the different types of behavior and to examine potential correlations with various demographical and situational factors. Results show that three-quarters of the victims exhibit a risk-taking behavior by deliberately coming in contact with floodwaters. Statistically significant associations were found between behavior and the demographics of the victims, the type surrounding environment, and the use of vehicles, indicating that certain situations and certain individuals are more prone to risk-taking behaviors than others. A statistical model shows that the behavior of a flood victim can be predicted with high accuracy by knowing certain variables of a fatal incident. The prevalence of risk-taking actions identified is a strong indication that human behavior is a crucial factor in flood mortality. The present study shows that a systematic classification of behaviors can help future interventions by highlighting the most common mechanisms of fatal incidents.

Highlights

Floods are one of the most deadly types of natural disasters, inducing a large number of fatalities [1,2,3], significant economic damages [4], and a diversity of adverse consequences [5,6]
The findings show that the majority of cases involve victim actions that belong to the realm of risk-taking behavior against flood risk, with individuals leaving safety and coming deliberately in contact with floodwaters
The percentage presented here is high in comparison to certain previous works [2,16], but within the range recorded in them [11,31]. This high percentage is a strong indication that a risk-taking attitude among victims is an important factor in flood mortality, which it has been acknowledged in previous mortality studies, has not been discussed to the same extent and with the same gravity in comparison to other factors, such as demographical or situational

Summary

Introduction

Floods are one of the most deadly types of natural disasters, inducing a large number of fatalities [1,2,3], significant economic damages [4], and a diversity of adverse consequences [5,6]. A number of previous works have studied the effects of floods on human health [9] by examining datasets extracted by multiple floods [2] or by focusing on a case study of a catastrophic flood [10]. Their findings provide interesting insights into how these factors influence the risk to individuals during a flood event. Driving into flooded waterways has been acknowledged in numerous works [14,23]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion