ABSTRACT
Inundation potential maps show an area's risk over time and with rainfall. However, how they can be used for disaster preparedness exercises and planning evacuation strategies is still being determined.
This study invited 20 participants from Taiwan and Japan to view inundation potential maps of a specific area and conduct route planning under different scenarios. They were asked to make evacuation plans over time when they were stranded in a particular place due to a disaster. We allowed participants to practice their plans in multiple situations and used a self-assessment questionnaire to understand the difference between before and after the use of inundation potential maps. Paired sample t-tests revealed agreement that question “I do not have much disaster risk in my living environment (p = .014 < .05)” was significantly lower than in the pre-test. Most participants may have initially overestimated their understanding of disaster risk. Agreement for two questions on the post-test, “I know the inundation potential maps (p = .014 < .05)” and “I have used the inundation potential map (p = .006 < .01)”, increased significantly compared to the pre-test, indicating that practice on each task contributed to understanding the inundation potential maps. The route-planning scenario tasks showed that the inundation potential maps help users change the route planning according to the rainfall condition to avoid high-risk areas. The timeline planning task also allows the participant to list in advance the items that should be prepared for the disaster. The use of task scenarios and timelines can be effective in helping people understand the application of inundation potential maps.
