Flash floods and people preparedness in anticipating disaster in Malaysia

摘要

With the current global conditions and erratic climate changes, people should be prepared for the worst as no place is safe from nature's wrath. Preparing for disaster, especially flash floods, requires collaborative efforts from the citizen, local authorities, state and federal government. Natural disaster can happen at any time and anywhere, so by anticipating and preparing for a known occurrence, life and property losses will be reduced. Then again how prepared are the residents? Thus, the objectives of the research are to identify the level of people preparedness towards disaster and determining the relationship between preparedness and disaster anticipation. From a sample size of 150 residents of Segamat, Johor, the results revealed that there is a moderate level of preparedness among the people. In addition, there is a positive relationship between mass media and people preparedness towards disaster. The empirical evidence showed that the people of Segamat should be better prepared for flood as this can minimize their property losses. When the people do not practice preparedness towards disaster and adopts a lackadaisical attitude towards a predicted natural risk, they may suffer unexpected losses of property and lives.