Household vulnerability to climate change: Examining perceptions of households of flood risks in Georgetown and Paramaribo

The article examines household perceptions of flooding as part of climate change in two low elevation coastal zone cities in the Caribbean. The research examines differences in vulnerability of households as the combined results of socio-economic inequalities in entitlements and exposure to natural hazards – flooding and extreme rainfall. Case studies of Paramaribo and Georgetown show that household exposure to floods is increasing, with lower-income groups suffering longer from exposure and with more damaging effects. Such effects are time lost in work and education, damages to assets, and stress. Households in lower-income areas take more measures to prevent flooding than higher-income households. During floods social capital leads to mutual help among neighbors, but this is not carried through to collective organization in preventive strategies. Links with local government are also found to be lacking. Results show a lack of city-wide organization and participative measures for the households concerned, with possible detrimental effects on lower-income households.

► Low-income households have higher exposure to natural hazards in LECZ cities.
► Main negative effects are time lost from work, education, damages to assets, stress.
► Although mutual help is given by neighbors during floods, collective organization is lacking.
► City-wide organization of citizens and participative measures are not experienced by households.