Testing the Waters: The Social Contexts of Homeowner Flood Mitigation

South Louisiana regularly experiences effects from flooding. This study looks at what homeowners are doing to reduce their losses from floods through the practices of flood mitigation. I developed four hypotheses to predict homeowners' mitigation behavior. (1) Homeowners with a history of flooding are likely to mitigate more than those without previous flooding. (2) High-disposable-income homeowners are more likely to mitigate than lowdisposable- income homeowners. (3) The stronger the place attachment among homeowners, the higher the likelihood they will mitigate. (4) Homeowners who have experienced effective mitigation measures in the past are more likely to mitigate than those who have not. To test these hypotheses, a survey was administered in five different neighborhoods throughout Orleans and Jefferson parishes having high concentrations of repeatedly flooded homes. The findings suggest severity of past flooding, disposable savings, strong relationships with neighbors, and discussion of flooding with neighbors are the strongest predictors of flood mitigation.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Year

2008

Author dc:creator

• Olivier, Maggie L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Laska, Shirley
• Adeola, Francis
• Baxter, Vern

• Flooding Homeowner mitigation Place attachment Repeatedly flooded homes

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/687

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-1687