“They’re the ones that sent me down a flooded road”: trust, distrust, and individuals’ flood mitigation decisions

Extreme weather intensification due to climate change will necessitate significant human adaptation, either by implementing flood mitigation measures, or by vacating flood zones altogether. Although household-level decision-making strategies for flood mitigation have been studied, little attention has been given to how these decisions are made when repeated floods occur. To address this gap, we interviewed 13 flood-impacted residents of Waterbury, VT – a community that has experienced recent reoccurring flooding – to explore the factors influencing their flood mitigation decisions. Using Trust Ecology as a theoretical framework to guide our analysis, we uncovered key themes relevant to the adoption of mitigation behaviors. Specifically, our results suggest that two forms of distrust – rational and procedural – played important roles in determining behavior following repeated flooding. These findings are relevant for practitioners who assist with localized flood mitigation efforts and advance an understanding of how (dis)trust impacts mitigation efforts broadly.