Influence of flood risk communication on threat and coping appraisals of individuals to enhance flood resilience

Floods are among the most frequent natural disasters globally and increasingly are exacerbated by climate change and urbanisation. With the evolution of flood management practices over the past decades, the concept of resilience has also gained prominence as a valuable component of the decision-making toolbox. The resilience concept emphasizes the need to supplement conventional engineering solutions with improvement and adaptation measures that mitigate individuals and communities at risk. Nevertheless, a gap remains in the comprehensive understanding of how community communication can facilitate the improvement in flood resilience, particularly in the Global South. This study examines how flood risk communication (FRC) affects individual protection actions to enhance resilience at the community level. Specifically, behavioural theories are integrated with Protection Motivation Theory to form a conceptual framework to provide details of the processes that influence individuals' threat and coping appraisals. As a case study, a dataset consisting of 297 online survey responses from residents living in 10 flood-prone municipalities across Thailand was collected and structural equation modelling was employed to analyse the data. The findings suggest that effective FRC should include risk assessment, stakeholder responsibilities, and preparation measures, and the sharing of such information was positively associated with higher levels of threat and coping appraisals. Moreover, accessibility and trustworthiness of information were found to play a critical role in increasing coping appraisals. Overall, this study highlights the importance of understanding how FRC can affect individual preparation intentions and enhance flood resilience. • Resilience has become a key aspect of flood management, supplementing traditional engineering solutions. • Effective flood risk communication (FRC) can enhance community resilience but is not well understood, especially in the Global South. • This study uses Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a theoretical basis to analyse individual protection actions. • A survey of 297 residents from 10 flood-prone municipalities in Thailand was conducted, using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to assess the impact of FRC on threat and coping appraisals. • Key elements of effective FRC include: risk information, stakeholder responsibilities, and preparation measures, accessibility and trustworthiness of information; and is found to be crucial in enhancing individual preparation intentions.