Can a Simulated Flood Experience Improve Social Resilience to Disasters?

The increase of extreme meteorological phenomena, along with continuous population growth, has led to a rising number of flooding disasters. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop better risk reduction strategies, among which is increased social resilience. Experiencing a disaster is recognized as a factor that positively influences overall community resilience, with particular effects on social resilience; it appears to be more influential than school education. It also has many negative effects, though. Previous studies underline that citizens do not distinguish between different types of experiences. Thus, we investigated whether a simulated experience of a flood can improve social resilience, without being hampered by negative repercussions. The study was executed in five municipalities in three Italian regions involved in the European project LIFE PRIMES, which planned simulation activities for each studied area. Data, collected through the administration of anonymous questionnaires before and after a flood drill, were processed by applying a multicriteria decision analysis tool (PROMETHEE). Results show that the drill significantly augmented perceived social resilience in the smaller studied communities but not in the larger ones, a fact that should be further investigated. Key Words: multicriteria decision analysis, simulated flood experience, social resilience to disasters.