Influencing factors for emergency evacuation capability of rural households to flood hazards in western mountainous regions of Henan province, China

How to safely and quickly evacuate before or during a flood is crucial for public safety. In this study, the emergency evacuation capability for rural households to flood hazards was studied using structural equation modeling. Firstly, eleven key factors influencing emergency evacuation capability were identified using existing literature and discussions with some experts and local participants. Secondly, a hypothetical structural equation model on the influencing factors and their relationships to emergency evacuation capability was proposed. Finally, the relationships among influencing factors and their impacts on emergency evacuation capability were analyzed. The results showed that (1) the hypothetical relationships in the structural model were reasonable, and the latent variables in measurement models could be validly measured by observed indices; (2) the emergency evacuation capability could be presented by three latent variables, i.e. personal ability, family characteristics and social environment; and (3) most influencing factors had significant impact on emergency evaluation capability, and the relative importance of the eleven observed indices were information acquiring ability, rapid transfer ability, evacuation skills, early warning, evacuation attitude, the ratio of family members who work and live outside the household, illiteracy ratio, shelter, dependency ratio, flood knowledge, and government assistance. Based on the results, suggestions to improve the emergency evacuation capability for rural households to flood hazards were proposed. The results of this study can be used to improve the emergency evacuation capability for rural households to flood hazards.