Flood Vulnerability Assessment on Selected Communities in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria, Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry. Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as river, lake or ocean, in which the water overtops or breaks levees, resulting in some of that water escaping its usual boundaries, or it may occur due to an accumulation of rain water on saturated ground in an area. To find out the most vulnerable communities, the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and location data of selected communities were used. The Image Re-class and Map Overlay were performed on QGIS software to identify communities that are most affected. The result shows that the region has no river channel that discharge excess water easily. It also shows that four, out of twelve settlements were located at the high risk zone. The settlements are Uniport, Omuoda, Omuahunwo and Okparagwa. It was recommended that the high risk zone in the area should be provided with artificial water channel that will contain and convey surface sun-off to a nearby stream. The local authority should relocate the affected settlements to a safer zone.