Turning regret into future disaster preparedness with no regrets

Abstract. Global efforts are focusing on long-term preparedness for disasters, highlighting the need to make well-informed decisions in advance to avoid panic behaviour when a disaster strikes. Making well-informed decisions includes the evaluation of the potential outcomes of a decision or action to avoid regretting them afterwards. However, little is known about what we regret about our actions and inactions in the context of disasters. Using the responses of a survey disseminated in flood-affected areas in Germany in 2021, this study dives into the post-disaster regrets of citizens (438 respondents). The results showed that participants only regretted preparedness actions when the actions threatened their life, but mostly, participants regretted their inaction. Overall, the results indicate the need to promote long-term preparedness, which can be supported by the “no-regrets” approach. Furthermore, the need to integrate actions supporting psychological preparedness was identified.