Community experiences of flood warnings and evacuation responses during the 2025 NSW mid-North Coast floods

Research theme

Project type

Responsive disaster research

Project status

In progress

This project explores the lived experiences, perceptions and responses of community members to flood warnings and evacuation warnings. Focusing on understanding how different groups receive, interpret and act upon flood warning information, the project will pay particular attention to factors influencing compliance, trust in authorities and barriers to evacuation.

Conducted in areas impacted by the May 2025 New South Wales mid-North Coast floods including the Manning, Macleay, Hastings and Nambucca catchments, the study will cover urban and rural settings and age, gender and cultural background diversity.

Research team

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Dr Julian Marx

Researcher

Project details

The study will examine the following key themes:

Sources and perceived reliability of flood warning information
Community understanding and interpretation of flood warnings
Decision-making processes regarding evacuation responses
Communication channels used during flood events
Trust and confidence in emergency services and authorities
Challenges faced during evacuation (logistical, psychological, social)
Efficacy of flood warnings in reducing damages
Recommendations from the community for improving warning systems and evacuation support.

The study will employ the following methods:

Analysis of social media including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Telephone survey of residents
Semi-structured interviews with residents .

Where appropriate and useful similar questions will be utilised as to the 2022 post flood event surveys to enable cross comparison between studies.

Findings will be used to inform policy recommendations for enhancing flood warning and evacuation strategies.

The study will generate the following outputs:

Participant, researcher and project manager co-delivered meetings
Final report/s
Knowledge sharing products: executive summary, webinar, hazard note, presentations .