Problems of flood hazard perception : implications for floodplain management

Abstract

Many people using floodplains underestimate the risk of flooding, and develop the land for intensive uses, ignoring the potential costs of flood damage. The professionals responsible for reducing the flood hazard do not take account of this, and flood damage costs continue to increase in spite of increasing expenditure on flood protection. This report examines the interactions between people's understanding of flood hazard and their responses to the hazard. It suggests ways in which floodplain management in New Zealand could be improved by greater recognition of these interactions. It is concluded that a programme of hazard education is essential to improve public understanding of the hazard, and that the use of regulatory rather than distributive flood mitigation measures could reduce the costs of flood damage.