Why They Stayed and Why They Left—A Case Study from Ellicott City, MD after Flash Flooding

Alisha Yee Chan (), Kate Burrows and Michelle L. Bell
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Alisha Yee Chan: Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Kate Burrows: Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
Michelle L. Bell: School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-10

Abstract: Ellicott City, MD was devasted by flash flooding in 2016 and 2018. A lack of qualitative research has been conducted on topics related to sense of place and flash flooding, especially in the United States. In this study, we reveal reasons why some who experienced flash flooding continued to stay the flood zone and why some leave. We utilized a phenomenological approach to answer these research questions. Data were generated through in-depth interviews with 19 participants from the Historic District and adjacent neighborhoods in Ellicott City. The most common reasons participants stayed were: (1) Community Impact, (2) Historical Land, and (3) Financial Burden. The most common reasons participants left were: (1) Emotional Exhaustion and Frustration, (2) Fear/Anxiety, and (3) Financial Burden. The results of our study indicate that reasons individuals who experience flash flooding stay, or leave may include community/historical, environmental, emotional, and economic factors. This reveals the complexity of relocation and sense of place after natural/environmental disasters and supports previous literature that suggests tailored response efforts based on these unique set of burdens. This paper aims to identify burdens and understand flood victims’ decisions to help policy makers improve flood response efforts.

Keywords: flash flooding; phenomenological analysis; sense of place; relocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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