Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
8-2021
School/College
Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs (SOPA)
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy
Committee Chairperson
Earthea Nance
Committee Member 1
Robert Bullard
Committee Member 2
Glenn Johnson
Committee Member 3
Sheryl McCurdy
Keywords
Drivers, Flood Warning Systems, Flooding, Mitigation, Roadway Safety, Social Norms
Abstract
From 1959 – 2009, Texas has annually led the nation in the number of flood fatalities. On average the number of deaths in Texas was three times the amount of the second leading state (Sharif, Hossain, Jackson & Bin-Shafique, 2012). Quantitative studies have attempted to construct the definition of when, how and the likelihood that a person dies in a flood event, why they made the fatal decision to drive, and who is particularly vulnerable to making this decision. This dissertation used a qualitative approach to explore this occurrence in a deeper and more meaningful context. This dissertation includes four research questions. What factors govern drivers’ decision-making during a flood? What social norms about driving and flooding contribute to the risk factor decision? What mitigation measures has the local government implemented to prevent driver fatalities during extreme flooding? What experiences from drivers are missing in current Flood Warning Systems (FWS)? This qualitative dissertation used a historical narrative approach to provide a critical case study of fatalities in Harris County, Texas. The selected storms were Great Flood of 1994, Tropical Storm Allison of 2001, Memorial Day Flood of 2015, Tax Day Flood of 2016, Hurricane Harvey of 2017, and Tropical Storm Imelda of 2019. Data was collected from live broadcasts, online and printed media sources, 97 semi-structured interviews, public government documents and reports as well as social media posts and comments from Twitter and Facebook. Street observations were conducted at the known locations where fatalities occurred for those that either died in their car or abandoned a car and died. This research resulted in the creation of a database of the victims demographics and reasons for driving as well as a database creation of street design characteristics at the fatality locations. All fatalities that occurred in Harris County were mapped, including non-vehicle related fatalities. This dissertation concludes that both driver error and road design error contribute to fatalities. Social norms influence the lack of adequate mitigation from local governments and better Flood Warning Systems could prevent deaths from occurring.
Copyright
Copyright © for this work is retained by the author. Any documents and information presented are protected by copyright under US Copyright laws and are the property of the author. All Rights Reserved. For permission to use this content please contact the author or the Graduate School at Texas Southern University (graduate.school@tsu.edu).
Recommended Citation
Powers, Liza T., "Mitigating Roadway Disasters in Extreme Flooding Events: A Critical Case Study of Flood Fatalities in Harris County, Texas" (2021). Dissertations (2016-Present). 33.
https://digitalscholarship.tsu.edu/dissertations/33