Citation

Fielding JL. Disasters 2018; 42(1): 101-123.

Affiliation

Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, United Kingdom.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/disa.12230

PMID

28440584

Abstract

Previous research has shown that many vulnerable communities experience disproportional exposure to flood risk. This paper, though, is the first to look at broad ethnic/racial group differences in the United Kingdom. It contends that differences in culture and language, especially those of new immigrants, bestow vulnerabilities on such communities, resulting in a lack of knowledge that enables people to be aware, to be prepared, or to recover expediently after a flood emergency. Using UK 2011 Census data and Environment Agency flood maps, the paper demonstrates that it is the non-white communities in Wales that confront the most disproportionate level of flood risk: 23 per cent as compared to 11.4 per cent of their white neighbours. In contrast, the difference in flood risk between white and non-white ethnic/racial groups in regions of England is within a range of plus or minus two per cent, except for in Yorkshire and The Humber where white populations face a much greater risk of flooding.

© 2017 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2017.

Language: en

Keywords

environmental justice; flood awareness; flood risk; inequalities