TITLE:
Quantitative Assessment of Vulnerability to Flood Hazards in Downstream Area of Mono Basin, South-Eastern Togo: Yoto District
AUTHORS:
Abravi Essenam Kissi, Georges Abbevi Abbey, Komi Agboka, Aklesso Egbendewe
KEYWORDS:
Assessment, Flood, Quantitative Vulnerability, Downstream, Mono River Basin, Yoto District
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.7 No.6,
December
23,
2015
ABSTRACT: The population located
along Mono River in the Yoto district faces great challenges in terms of
repeated flood disasters in recent years. This paper aims at assessing the
conditions which influence flood damage in the study area by using indicators
to compute a Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI). The study relies on Turneret al.’s vulnerability
framework and distinguishes three main components (exposure, susceptibility and
resilience) that allow a more in-depth analysis and interpretation of local
indicators. As a result flood disaster in the study area is not only due to the
extreme variability in terms of flood magnitude and frequency in the Mono River,
but also to the interaction between human and the environment. The lack of
vegetation along the river bank, the closeness of households’ farmlands to the
river body, the type of construction and the position of settlements, the
household size, the low level education of household head, the lack of
diversification of livelihood strategies, the lack of adequate flood warning
system, the lack of willingness and ability to take responsive actions coupled
with inadequate emergency services, are identified as main determinants
increasing communities’ vulnerability to flood disaster. Furthermore, the computation
of Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) offers easy comparison of communities’
vulnerability to flood disaster and pinpoints the most vulnerable communities.
At the end of the study, flood exposure, susceptibility, resilience and
vulnerability maps were generated.