Risk Perception in Flood-Prone Lands of Costa Brava, Spain

How well residents of flood-prone lands understand the risks of flooding is a question with profound implications for public policies to manage flood risk and land use on floodplains. Surveys of 300 residents of rapidly urbanizing floodplains in three coastal cities (100-135 km north of Barcelona), supplanted by interviews with public officials and government agency staff, indicate that most residents underestimate the probability and extent of flooding, unless they have experienced a flood within the previous three years. However, most dwelling units are now in multistory buildings, so residents of upper stories are vertically removed from floodwaters. Moreover, unlike the poor fishermen who formerly inhabited villages along this coast and who were devastated by periodic floods, the new inhabitants are mostly affluent and well-insured, so they can recover quickly from flood damage. Thus, while exposure to flooding has increased through urbanization of flood-prone lands, resistance to flooding has increased due to multistory buildings and sump pumps in lower floors, and resilience is much greater thanks to the financial resources of new residents.