Preparing for urban floods in Mozambique: Can risk communication help?
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Leeffers-February-2022-Policy-brief.pdf
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- Information dissemination can be a powerful tool to guide, educate, and capacitate citizens in preparation for natural disasters. This study conducted in Mozambique seeks to provide actionable insights about the role of risk communication in urban flood risk management.
- Through video interventions and in-person surveys with residents in Quelimane in the months preceding the 2021-2022 wet season, the researcher sought to understand the challenges associated with risk communication.
- After watching a video which featured local government officials, respondents were more aware about the flood risks they faced. They also report a higher likelihood for implementing preparedness actions. These results suggest that it was not necessary to raise concerns or fear about flooding to increase the intention to prepare.
- The second video which featured Quelimane residents with flooding experience raised the perception that others would approve of taking preventive measures, thus influencing social norms regarding flood preparation.
- The brief includes policy recommendations on how governments can better communicate with households on disaster risk prevention.