RAPID: Emergency Evacuations and Risk Communication During the 2013 Colorado Flood

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville TX

Investigators

Abstract

The purposes of this Rapid Response Research (RAPID) are to better understand households' immediate response to a flash flood disaster in the U.S. and the short-lived aspects of disaster response data (evacuees' lasting memory). Scientists and emergency managers traditionally have used 100-year flood maps to demonstrate the occurrence of a major flood; nevertheless, flood risk is not well understood by the general public. In addition, the time required to mobilize the resources for a major post-disaster survey delays the collection of data from households but little is known about whether people's recollections of their immediate pre-impact beliefs and actions change over time. This study will use a flexible interview method and household surveys to acquire the data. The researchers will conduct field work at Colorado State (emergency manager interviews and household surveys). The interviews will help the researchers to validate the survey instruments and assess emergency managers' perspectives and experiences in the flood response. Three thousand households in the flooded areas will be identified through a random process. These households will receive the 2013 Colorado Flood response surveys during March and September 2014. Statistical analyses will be used to analyze the survey data. The researchers in this study expect to find useful emergency information that could affect the content of warning messages; risk area residents' perceptions of disaster information source and flood threat; and the speed of warning receipt and evacuation response. In addition, the result of this study can also provide empirical evidence on the recall of disaster response information. The results of this project will benefit emergency planning professionals in the United States, as well as throughout the world by providing important tests of emergency response theories, valuable information on methods of disaster response recall information for disaster researchers, and valuable practical information for emergency managers. In particular, identification of factors that affect people's responses to floods will improve the ability of government agencies to provide the general public with more useful information about how to protect themselves and their families. The interview and survey processes will also have broader impacts on the investigators' and their research assistants' research, teaching, and learning experiences. This project will provide graduate assistants at SHSU an opportunity to participate in data collection, coding, analysis, and analytical report writing. Furthermore, the emergency manager contacts made during the field work will catalyze the investigators' future collaborations and graduate students' job prospects.