Measuring Social, Health and Economic Impacts of Disasters: Experiences from 9 MICRODIS Sites (special session)

1. Measuring Social, Health and Economic Impacts of Disasters: Experiences from 9 MICRODIS Sites (special session) Tewkesbury and Morpeth UK Maureen Fordham, Supriya Akerkar, Manuela Scharf, Tim Wind, Laura Irvine [email_address] Disclaimer 3RD INTERNATIONAL DISASTER AND RISK CONFERENCE IDRC RISK, DISASTERS, CRISIS AND GLOBAL CHANGE - FROM THREATS TO SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES 30 MAY - 3 JUNE 2010 ¦ DAVOS, SWITZERLAND

2. Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire in the South Midlands of England and its location in the UK Flooded in July 2007 Worst flood in recorded history 3 deaths 1000 properties flooded Completed questionnaires: Flooded = 136; Non-flooded = 76

6. Morpeth : Not receiving a warning appears to have worsened the whole experience for people. There was a consistent pattern of higher average ratings of seriousness from those not warned Rating (1 to 10) the seriousness of loss or damage to:

7. Morpeth : There was a consistent pattern of higher average ratings (1 to 10) of impacts and consequences of the flood.

9. Morpeth & Tewkesbury : around a quarter of respondents in both sites reported illnesses. Very few were physical Morpeth Frequency % (rounded) Diarrhoea 1 2 Acute respiratory tract infection (pneumonia, bronchitis) 2 3 Skin infection 2 3 Cancer 2 3 Heart problems / angina 2 3 Infectious disease (including cold/flu) 1 2 Feeling depressed 25 40 Feeling anxious 8 13 Persistently stressed/stressed to an unusual extent 4 7 Insomnia 1 2 High blood pressure 1 2 Other 13 21 Total 62 100

12. Morpeth : We see a difference in actual damages reported between warned/not warned and according to when the warning was received – those who received a warning before the flood had lower damages than those who received one later but the numbers are small (40 and 8) and so the analysis is less secure

13. Morpeth : Those not warned are less willing to pay (WTP) towards a flood scheme. But those who are willing will generally pay more. Many people protested against paying anything at all: they do not trust those in charge; they do not feel they should pay extra to their insurance %