Preparedness against floods in nearly pristine socio-hydrological systems = Preparación ante inundaciones en sistemas socio-hidrológicos casi prístinos.

Abstract

The relations between preparedness and psycho-social attributes of people and communities exposed to river floods in a nearly pristine socio hydrological system were investigated, applying hydrological-hydraulic analysis of flood risk in combination with results from a survey, social cartography, semi-structured non-participant observation, and semi structured interviews. Results show that preparedness in nearly pristine systems is noticeable different to those reported for altered systems. People adopted innovative, simple, but efficient measures against floods, conditioned by (1) damage suffered during past floods, (2) perceived exposure to floods, and (3) the number of dependent people in the household. The studied system resulted well adapted to floods but not resilient. Collecting preparedness explaining attributes as part of flood risk management plans would contribute towards uncertainty reduction in risk calculations and increase safety of goods and people against floods.