Implementation of community flood risk communication in Kumamoto, Japan Fumihiko Yamada 1 * , Ryuji Kakimoto 1y , Miyuki Yamamoto 2z , Toshio Fujimi 1x and Naoto Tanaka 3ô 1 Kumamoto University Graduate School of Science and Technology, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan 2 Kumamoto Prefectural Government, Kamimashiki Bureau, 396-1, Hetami, Mifune, Kamimashiki, Kumamoto 861-3206, Japan 3 Kumamoto University Center for Policy Studies, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan SUMMARY To enhance local flood disaster mitigation, participatory approaches for community-based flood risk communication are proposed using the workshops based on a Plan-Do-Check-Action (PDCA) cycle. In our case study, risk communication for floods due to heavy rain and river flooding was implemented at the Kosen community in Kumamoto City, Japan, during 2006–2007. A community-based flood hazard and evacuation route map were produced during the workshops and verified through virtual desktop evacuation drills. The fundamental resident flood evacuation data was obtained through the evacuation drills and analyzed with respect to the timing of the announcement of evacuation information, walking speed during evacuation, and the locations of evacuation centers. Implementation of flood risk communication was found to be effective for the enhancement of residents’ awareness of both self- and mutual-help efforts in community-based flood risk mitigation. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY WORDS: flood risk management; risk perception; workshop; flood simulator; evacuation drill 1. INTRODUCTION Engineering works for flood disaster reduction have progressed significantly over the last two decades; however, flooding continues to pose a major challenge in both advanced and developing countries. In Japan, frequent destructive rainstorms probably due to the global warming have caused severe flood damage in recent years [1,2]. In the regions where flood disasters occurred, and in particular with a focus on building disaster-prepared communities, plans have been discussed for more effectively reducing flood damage, incorporating both hard (structural) and soft (non-structural) approaches [3,4]. In these plans, flood disasters are considered not to be physical processes, but rather socio-economic issues. It is important to put such plans into practice with the division of roles clearly defined and the cooperation of self-, mutual-, and public-help efforts [5,6]. Indeed, there has been a significant move from a strategy of flood defense to one of flood risk management [7–11]. Flood risk is defined in terms of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure [12]. Hazard describes the frequency and severity of the flood event, vulnerability is the extent to which the property and people could be affected by the hazard, and exposure is defined in terms of economic and social impact [13]. Flood risk management includes flood prevention using hard defenses, but also requires that society JOURNAL OF ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION J. Adv. Transp. 2011; 45:117–128 Published online 11 June 2010 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/atr.119 *Correspondence to: Fumihiko Yamada, Professor, Kumamoto University Graduate School of Science and Technology, 2-39-1, Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan. E-mail: yamada@kumamoto-u.ac.jp y Professor. z Chief of Bureau. x Assistant Professor. ô Associate Professor. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.