“I wish I’d never heard of Banbury”: The relationship between ‘place’ and the health impacts from flooding

This paper focuses upon a small qualitative study of two communities in England that were flooded over the Easter weekend in 1998. It reports on the only known longitudinal study of flood-affected respondents in the UK with the same participants over a 412-year period. It examines how ‘place’, both as a physical location within the floodplain and in terms of social places, may impact upon the health of those affected. It also demonstrates how floods may influence people's relationship with and perception of place, further impacting upon health outcomes. Illustrations in the form of narratives are provided by those who were flooded. Findings demonstrate that even relatively small, localised flood events may seriously disrupt people's lives and have a significant impact upon their physical but particularly their mental health and well-being.