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.
Highlights
IntroductionFloods are the most costly and frequent natural disasters in Canada, causing over $1B in damage to homes, the economy, the environment, and infrastructures each year [1]
The results indicated that the residents did not perceive a significant risk of future flooding, and that there was a poor understanding of floodplain regulations
In order to understand the knowledge and flood hazard experience, each resident was were asked to indicate whether their residence was located in the flood zone or if they had been flooded in the last 10 years
Summary
Floods are the most costly and frequent natural disasters in Canada, causing over $1B in damage to homes, the economy, the environment, and infrastructures each year [1]. In addition to economic losses, floods are responsible for a range of social impacts and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression [2,3]. Floods can occur via a range of processes, including fluvial floods (river floods), pluvial floods (surface water flowing towards rivers), coastal floods (storm surge and coastal tidal flooding), as well as floods induced by human activity. In Canada, the increasing concentrations of people and assets in areas of high flood risk coupled with climate change impacts will likely contribute to an increase in flooding episodes in coastal and urban areas [4,5]. The increasing flood risk is due to changing climate conditions or human iations Almost 80% of Canadian cities are located on riverine floodplains due to historical settlement around waterways that provided access to commerce and resources [6].
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