Determinants of flood risk awareness and preparedness among citizens: the case of Jordan

Gammoh, Leen, Dawson, Ian and Katsikopoulos, Konstantinos (2022) Determinants of flood risk awareness and preparedness among citizens: the case of Jordan. The 30th Annual Conference of the Society for Risk Analysis - Europe, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia. 12 - 15 Jun 2022.

Abstract

Developing countries are often severely impacted by natural disasters. However, the level of their disaster preparedness is often minimal and the determinants of such levels are understudied. To address this issue, this study evaluated the relationship between self-efficacy, sense of community, past experience and flood risk preparedness in the developing country of Jordan. The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational research design with 300 adult participants. All participants were citizens in the four Jordanian cities (Amman, Madaba, Ma’an and Balqa) that were most impacted by flooding disasters in 2018 and 2019. Multiple regression analysis determined the relationship between the independent variables of self-efficacy, sense of community, and past experience and the dependent variable of flood risk preparedness. The results of the study indicated that all three independent variables had positive significant relationships with Jordanians’ flood risk preparedness. The strongest of these relationships was with self-efficacy, which had a correlation of r = 0.481, p < 0.01. We argue that self-efficacy may have a particularly strong relationship with flood risk preparedness because individuals with higher self-efficacy are those who are better empowered to instigate a greater quality and quantity of actions against disasters. Also, individuals with higher self-efficacy may have a greater ability to self-regulate their behaviours, they may have more confidence to participate in riskier situations and, therefore, may be better equipped to handle the negative emotions that might arise during the flooding disasters. The results of the study also indicated that many individuals in this sample of Jordanians did not take flood risk warnings seriously and often overlooked governmental risk communications. This may be because trust in governmental entities and the perceived effectiveness of risk warning and communication systems are relatively low in this region. These findings indicate that flood risk preparedness in Jordan could be improved by increasing self-efficacy and risk awareness. This might be achieved via a variety of communication channels and training approaches, as well as through the development of local and national flood emergency plans that can be established and implemented by individuals and regional communities. Recommendations for further research include quantitative or qualitative studies to understand better the connection between flood risk preparedness training, and determining how to improve disaster risk warning systems for individuals and communities in developing countries such as Jordan.

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Contributors

Author: Ian Dawson

Author: Konstantinos Katsikopoulos

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