The F word: the experiential construction of flooding in England

Mehring, P., Geoghegan, H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1401-8626, Cloke, H. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1472-868X and Clark, J. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0412-8824 (2023) The F word: the experiential construction of flooding in England. Emotion, Space and Society, 48. 100966. ISSN 1755-4586 doi: 10.1016/j.emospa.2023.100966

Abstract/Summary

In England, flood risk management policy constructs flooding through its physical impacts. Whilst research is starting to reveal the mental health impacts of flooding, it stops short of understanding the experience of being flooded and what this means in terms of understanding the F-word, flooding. Yet for flood communities, the emotional impacts of flooding can prevail for years, if not a lifetime. For people who have been flooded, flooding seeps into every facet of life. It removes the security and safety of home creating instead places of fear, stress, and anxiety. Within this paper we lay bare the emotional impacts of flooding, demonstrating the effect that home unmaking and the cyclical need for home remaking, has on individuals, their quality of life, and revealing the long-term emotional impact of living at risk of flooding. We finish by seeking ways to support communities living at risk of flooding, challenging current flood risk management policy, and identifying how it could be strengthened through understanding these emotional impacts. We propose supporting communities through the emotional turmoil of flooding can help provide hope and restore quality of life to those who live at risk of flooding.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/112899
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.emospa.2023.100966
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Elsevier
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