Measuring community resilience of flash floods using a multilevel interpretive structure model: Quantification and time-varying responses

• A multi-dimensional and multi-layered complex network of community resilience was built by DEMATEL and ISM model. • Community resilience magnitude are various as the different community types. • A consistent trend of “sharp decrease − rapid increase − slow decrease” was shown on community resilience with the inundation expansion. Flash flood, a type of the surface runoff that rises up and down sharply in small watersheds in the hilly and mountainous areas, is a difficulty in flood control and disaster prevention. As a basic unit of people’s social life, community is the most widely involved unit in disaster risk management. Flood-prone communities are characterized by geographical dispersion and confinement. This study carries out a research on disaster resilience and time-varying effects from the perspective of flash flood, and proposes a multidisciplinary integrated approach: (1) A multilevel interpretive structure model of the influencing factors of community resilience based on coupling decision mathematical model was constructed to analyze the differential influencing factors of community resilience; (2) The information diffusion method was used to quantitatively analyze and rank the community resilience of flash flood disasters; (3) Rand Index was used to quantitatively estimate the magnitude of community resilience and analyze the characteristics of its time-varying effect curve. Taking the flood-prone areas in northern Guangdong Province as the research area, this study analyzes three types of communities, including urban, rural, and suburban. The results show that the community resilience indicator system from the perspective of flash flood impact is a multi-dimensional and multi-layered complex network system. The direct influencing factors of community resilience in different types of community are different, the construction of water supply and drainage facilities and the flood emergency drills, as the fundamental influencing factors of community resilience, play an essential role in enhancing community resilience to flash floods. Since most of the surveyed communities are located in areas with frequent flash floods, residents have a high awareness of disaster prevention and mitigation, and rural show the higher community resilience than the sample of urban and suburban. With the expansion of inundation, the resilience of all three types of communities shows a consistent trend of “sharp decrease − rapid increase − slow decrease”. This study can provide an important reference for enhancing the community resilience in the flood-prone areas, and also improving their disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities. This comprehensive analysis method can provide scientific support to the refined prevention and mitigation of other types of disasters.