In preparation for disaster: Nudge
by Charlie Edwards
It's worth pointing out that in the event of widespread flooding the council would make sandbags available - but sandbags are 'heavy, non-permanent and not particularly effective' especially if you live in a flood risk area, or an area with poor drainage, and some parts of Norfolk flood on a regular basis - so it makes sense for local people to invest in permanent flood defences.
Predictably, however, we seem to be rather irrational when it comes to thinking of permanent flood defences and don't buy them because of the cost of flood gates and frankly it's not as convenient as having sandbags delivered to your door prior to the area flooding Given some places in North Norfolk flood pretty regularly this approach clearly doesn't make any sense.
So the Council decided to charge local residents for sandbags in the hope it would change their behaviour. The nudge works in two ways: first, by focusing their attention on internal flooding (of property) as opposed to sandbagging external buildings and gardens (this happens more than you might think); and second, make people think about longer-term mitigation rather than short-term preparedness.
Other councils like South Somerset District Council take a similar approach. In the event of widespread flooding the local authorities and the emergency services will swing into action - but there's an awful lot we can do in preparation and nudging people in the right direction seems like a smart way to go about it...