Adapting to the impacts of pluvial flooding: Results of a household survey in three German municipalities

Abstract

In recent years, German cities have been heavily impacted by pluvial flooding, causing for example losses of ~€70 million in Münster (2014) and ~€60 million in Potsdam and Berlin (2017). Additionally, pluvial flood impacts are projected to increase due to climate change and urbanization. Therefore, it is important to ask how pluvial flood risk management can be improved in urban areas. To understand the current state of adaptation of residents against pluvial flooding, a household survey was deployed in three municipalities. These three municipalities were recently impacted by pluvial flooding. Data was collected from a questionnaire embedded in the scientific literature on household level adaptation to flooding. A hybrid framework based on the Protection Motivation Model (PMT) and the Protection Action Decision Model (PADM) has been used to investigate the possible drivers of adaptive behaviour. Drivers for adaptive behaviour are explored by the means of descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. On this basis we identified (a) self-efficacy, (b) responsibility, (c) risk-awareness and (d) being informed about precautionary measures as drivers for adaptive behaviour. Regarding to integrated flood risk management, our results underpin that it is crucial to inform potentially affected people about their risk, their options to cope with this risk, and to clearly communicate responsibilities.