Flood impacts on individual well-being: insights from a post-event survey across differently exposed groups in Marche region, Italy

In Europe, current flood risk assessment practices often rely on the number of directly exposed residents as a proxy of the overall flood impact on people, thereby overlooking the broader range of flood consequences on human well-being. Literature studies have shown that these consequences encompass several direct and indirect intangible impacts and may affect people even beyond the flooded area. With aim of deepening current understanding of flood impacts on people, we developed a questionnaire that was distributed to the citizens of the Marche region of Italy affected by a severe flood in 2022, reaching 707 responses. Respondents were asked to self-identifying as belonging to one of three exposed groups: directly affected (e.g., experienced damage to their property), indirectly affected (e.g., family or friends experienced direct impacts, or experienced work or domestic system interruptions) and not affected. Respondents of these three exposed groups were asked to rate the severity of various impacts, as well as the overall impact they experienced. The responses were analysed through descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions. The analyses allowed to understand, first, how severely each impact was perceived when considered independently, and second, the role of each impact types in relation with the overall flood impact. The results show that flood consequences are felt even outside the flooded area, and underline the central role of intangible impacts, specifically psychological ones, in shaping the overall impact across all the exposed groups. The findings presented support the implementation of more effective recovery policies and measures that prioritize the most significant impacts for differently exposed groups.