Lulling Effect of Public Flood Protection: Case of Benhe Community in Kaohsiung during Typhoon Fanapi

Abstract

Many people believe that once structural public flood protection is completed, disasters are completely prevented. Benhe community was the only place in Taiwan where a flood detention pond had been built in 2005. After that, the community was developed intensively. However, when Typhoon Fanapi brought record-high rainfall of 345.5 mm in 3 h to the Kaohsiung area in 2010, Benhe residents suffered severe flooding because the rainfall exceeded the capacity of the pond’s pumping station. Based on interviews with residents, the authors discovered that the incomplete risk information provided by the local government and previous no-damage experiences of the detention pond lowered the risk perception and created a false image that the area was fully secured against any type of rainfall. Therefore, a future risk-communication and disaster-preparedness plan should adopt a proactive approach to increasing the awareness of flood risk by taking into account how public flood protection structures influence the intensity of risk perceptions and how community residents act upon them.