After surveying in the Hampton Roads area for two days, I was not able to make many significant observations. Having participated in door to door surveying efforts in the past, I was not astonished by Hampton residents’ reactions to our efforts. Nonetheless, one of the most significant observations that I was able to make during that short time period, was that some residents who were at flood risk were unwilling to participate in our survey. It was almost like they had given up in hopes that the flood issue would go away. While surveying, there were residents who stated that, “that’s just a part of living in this area. I signed up to live here.” Oftentimes phrases such as these made me challenge the purpose of the project. If there were residents who lived with these issues daily and they were not concerned with the well-being of their property, then why was this a project. Although these were my thoughts at times, they were invalidated when I recalled the purpose of the project—to measure community resilience. Meeting residents with mindsets such as these displayed the psychological aspect in dealing with disaster and coastal studies. Some residents may be less likely to understand the severity of their situation due to numerous factors, such as personal attachment to their assets, lack of knowledge, the idea that they’ve lived through violent storms thus far, etc.

…some residents who were at flood risk were unwilling to participate in our survey. It was almost like they had given up in hopes that the flood issue would go away. While surveying, there were residents who stated that, ‘that’s just a part of living in this area. I signed up to live here’…

MADISON BIbbs

Another significant observation that I was able to make was that some residents do not understand where their house sits in relation to flood zones. We met residents who lived in relatively low-lying areas and were considered waterfront, who would often challenge us in saying that, “The city says I’m not in a flood zone, but their house is.” This was alarming for us as researchers because our data stated otherwise. In stating that flooding wasn’t an issue for their house, but one for their neighbors revealed that individuals are reluctant to deal with the information you give them and would likely place that burden on someone else, even if all evidence states otherwise. Instances such as these can be identified as defense mechanisms.