In Japan, heavy rains and typhoons frequently cause floods across the country, often resulting in significant damage. Unlike sudden natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the predictability of heavy rains and typhoons has improved with advancements in weather forecasting, enabling more effective evacuation planning. Tools such as “Flood Hazard Maps” and “My Timeline” are widely promoted for flood preparedness. However, these tools must be properly understood and utilized to ensure effective evacuation.

Young people, particularly university students who often relocate to unfamiliar areas for education or employment, need to adapt their evacuation plans to local conditions. This study aims to develop educational programs to help university students create effective and safety-oriented evacuation plans.

To evaluate the impact of addressing flood-related concerns, an experiment was conducted in a university class where students designed evacuation plans using Flood Hazard Maps. The intervention group (n = 162) received information about common concerns among their peers regarding flooding and evacuation—categorized as follows:
- Anxiety about selecting a shelter.
- Anxiety about evacuation routes.
- Concerns over transportation methods, distance, and timing.
- Anxiety due to unfamiliarity with the area.

This group was compared to a control group (n = 161) that did not receive such information. Participants were asked to select an evacuation site based on specific criteria and rank their considerations:
- Safety area (outside disaster-prone zones).
- Proximity (distance from starting point).
- Familiarity with the location.
- Other.

Responses were scored to reflect safety prioritization, with lower scores indicating safer choices. The intervention group had a mean score of 1.53 ± 0.66, while the control group scored 1.71 ± 0.69. The results indicated that prioritizing safety more effectively in intervention group (Mann-Whitney U test p<0,01)

These findings suggest that addressing peer-related concerns during evacuation planning improves safety-focused decision-making. While tools like “Flood Hazard Maps” and “My Timeline” are crucial, teaching their use alone is insufficient. Incorporating scenarios that address practical anxieties into educational programs can help students envision and prepare for real-world challenges during floods, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of evacuation planning.

Keywords: Evacuation planning, flood hazard map, concerns of evacuation.