Local knowledge overlooked by authorities tackling extreme weather

According the anthropologist Tori Jennings, the knowledge of local communities about the risks posed by extreme weather is being overlooked by the governmental agencies who are responsible for cleaning up the aftermath.

Ms. Jennings, an academic from the University of Wisconsin, made this claim at the academic conference, ‘Living with climate change: are there limits to adaptation?’ held this week in London.

Ms. Jennings used the village of Boscastle in Cornwall as her example, and contrasted the views and actions of local families with the views of tourists, incomers and the national media.

“Press coverage was dramatic, often inconsistent in its details and frequently attributed the disaster to global climate change,” Ms. Jennings said.

“Boscastle continues to be used as a poster child for climate change.”

Local people, however, whose knowledge has built up over many generations, know that the flooding has happened an innumerate number of times before in the village’s history. The only difference with the floods of 2004 was their scale.

In the past, when the responsibility of the villages upkeep rested with the lord of the manor, workmen were sent out to dig culverts that would redirect water courses away from the village. Houses had been built on the hills above the harbour rather than in the narrow channel leading down to the sea.

However, as newcomers unaware of the flood risks moved in, houses were built in the valley, and the culverts designed to carry water away became blocked by litter and lack of upkeep.

The difference between incomers and locals was seem most acutely when the flooding occurred, as incomers waited to be told what to do by local authorities, whilst locals immediately set out to clear debris and unblock the culverts.

Ms. Jennings contended that the Boscastle example symbolises a much larger issue, where the knowledge of local people, who have built up a close relationship with the land in the place that they live, is overlooked if it does not fit in with the plans or the understanding of national authorities.

For Ms. Jennings, Boscastle was not so much a warning of impending climate chaos, but of the danger of ignoring the knowledge of locals who have learned to live with extreme weather conditions over many generations.