IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i17p10636-d898273.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why They Stayed and Why They Left—A Case Study from Ellicott City, MD after Flash Flooding

Author

Listed:
  • Alisha Yee Chan

    (Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA)

  • Kate Burrows

    (Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
    School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA)

  • Michelle L. Bell

    (School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA)

Abstract

Ellicott City, MD was devasted by flash flooding in 2016 and 2018. A lack of qualitative research has been conducted on topics related to sense of place and flash flooding, especially in the United States. In this study, we reveal reasons why some who experienced flash flooding continued to stay the flood zone and why some leave. We utilized a phenomenological approach to answer these research questions. Data were generated through in-depth interviews with 19 participants from the Historic District and adjacent neighborhoods in Ellicott City. The most common reasons participants stayed were: (1) Community Impact, (2) Historical Land, and (3) Financial Burden. The most common reasons participants left were: (1) Emotional Exhaustion and Frustration, (2) Fear/Anxiety, and (3) Financial Burden. The results of our study indicate that reasons individuals who experience flash flooding stay, or leave may include community/historical, environmental, emotional, and economic factors. This reveals the complexity of relocation and sense of place after natural/environmental disasters and supports previous literature that suggests tailored response efforts based on these unique set of burdens. This paper aims to identify burdens and understand flood victims’ decisions to help policy makers improve flood response efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Alisha Yee Chan & Kate Burrows & Michelle L. Bell, 2022. "Why They Stayed and Why They Left—A Case Study from Ellicott City, MD after Flash Flooding," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-10, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10636-:d:898273
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10636/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10636/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li Peng & Lei Lin & Shaoquan Liu & DingDe Xu, 2017. "Interaction between risk perception and sense of place in disaster-prone mountain areas: a case study in China’s Three Gorges Reservoir Area," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 85(2), pages 777-792, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xin Deng & Dingde Xu & Miao Zeng & Yanbin Qi, 2018. "Landslides and Cropland Abandonment in China’s Mountainous Areas: Spatial Distribution, Empirical Analysis and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Shuolin Geng & Qi Zhou & Mingjie Li & Dianxing Song & Yanjun Wen, 2021. "Spatial–temporal differences in disaster perception and response among new media users and the influence factors: a case study of the Shouguang Flood in Shandong province," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 105(2), pages 2241-2262, January.
    3. Dingde Xu & Zhuolin Yong & Xin Deng & Yi Liu & Kai Huang & Wenfeng Zhou & Zhixing Ma, 2019. "Financial Preparation, Disaster Experience, and Disaster Risk Perception of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence From the Wenchuan and Lushan Earthquakes in China’s Sichuan Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Xue Yang & Shili Guo & Xin Deng & Dingde Xu, 2021. "Livelihood Adaptation of Rural Households under Livelihood Stress: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Pei Huang & Hongyi Pan & Li Peng & Tiantian Chen & Jie Xu, 2020. "Temporal and spatial variation characteristics of disaster resilience in Southwest China’s mountainous regions against the background of urbanization," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(3), pages 3783-3802, September.
    6. Li Peng & Qianyu Li & Wei Deng & Ying Liu, 2021. "What Promotes Post-Earthquake Economic Recovery: The Role of Counterpart Assistance Policy After the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 Earthquake, China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    7. Dingde Xu & Chen Qing & Xin Deng & Zhuolin Yong & Wenfeng Zhou & Zhixing Ma, 2020. "Disaster Risk Perception, Sense of Pace, Evacuation Willingness, and Relocation Willingness of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Dingde Xu & Wenfeng Zhou & Xin Deng & Zhixing Ma & Zhuolin Yong & Cheng Qin, 2020. "Information credibility, disaster risk perception and evacuation willingness of rural households in China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(3), pages 2865-2882, September.
    9. Jia Zhong & Shaoquan Liu & Min Huang & Sha Cao & Hui Yu, 2021. "Driving Forces for the Spatial Reconstruction of Rural Settlements in Mountainous Areas Based on Structural Equation Models: A Case Study in Western China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Dingde Xu & Enlai Liu & Xuxi Wang & Hong Tang & Shaoquan Liu, 2018. "Rural Households’ Livelihood Capital, Risk Perception, and Willingness to Purchase Earthquake Disaster Insurance: Evidence from Southwestern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Dingde Xu & Linmei Zhuang & Xin Deng & Cheng Qing & Zhuolin Yong, 2020. "Media Exposure, Disaster Experience, and Risk Perception of Rural Households in Earthquake-Stricken Areas: Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-20, May.
    12. Dingde Xu & Yi Liu & Xin Deng & Chen Qing & Linmei Zhuang & Zhuolin Yong & Kai Huang, 2019. "Earthquake Disaster Risk Perception Process Model for Rural Households: A Pilot Study from Southwestern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-18, November.
    13. Li Peng & Jing Tan & Wei Deng & Ying Liu, 2020. "Understanding the Resilience of Different Farming Strategies in Coping with Geo-Hazards: A Case Study in Chongqing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.
    14. Sefa Mızrak & Melikşah Turan, 2023. "Effect of individual characteristics, risk perception, self-efficacy and social support on willingness to relocate due to floods and landslides," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(2), pages 1615-1637, March.
    15. Xueling Bao & Fengwan Zhang & Xin Deng & Dingde Xu, 2021. "Can Trust Motivate Farmers to Purchase Natural Disaster Insurance? Evidence from Earthquake-Stricken Areas of Sichuan, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10636-:d:898273. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.