EPA’s Flood Cleanup Resources: Promoting Community Resilience through Risk Communication

After a flood, affected residents often want to assess the condition of their homes and businesses, get rid of debris and muck, and repair damaged property—however, flooded buildings contain potential health risks. Getting information to the public after a disaster about what these health risks are and how to avoid them can be difficult. EPA’s Office of Research Development and Region 4 (Southeast) used the EPA’s risk communication framework and human-centered design techniques to figure out what information people affected by a flood need and how they make cleanup decisions. They used this input to create a website on how to safely clean out and fix up flooded homes. The website contains short how-to videos with step-by-step instruction from safely entering a flooded building to mold remediation techniques. The public can use this website to reduce hazards in the home after a flooding event to protect their health. It helps communities recover as quickly and safely as possible. The webinar will review the risk communication and human-centered design strategies used to develop the Flooded Homes Cleanup Guidance website and provide an overview of the website and its key features.