Flood vulnerability and relocation readiness in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine vulnerability conditions to flood disasters in Tokwe-Mukorsi community, Zimbabwe and identifies the barriers that constrained the community from relocating to safe sites. Design/methodology/approach Using a questionnaire survey, field observations and interviews, the paper examines the biophysical and social vulnerability of the Tokwe-Mukorsi community, Zimbabwe, as well as the barriers that prevented it from relocating to safe sites. A thematic analysis of the large volumes of qualitative data from interviews and walk-through analyses was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used in analysing quantitative data from questionnaires. Findings Results reveal that households living upstream and downstream of the dam were highly vulnerable to floods. Their biophysical vulnerability was partly induced by the construction of the dam whose basin encroached into the farming and settlement area. The extremely vulnerable group were households living below level of 660 m where five saddle dams had been constructed. The built environment of the community exhibited ignorance of standard building codes. The poor socio-economic conditions of the community and the incessant rains experienced over two weeks contributed to the flood disaster in early 2014. The Tokwe-Mukorsi community failed to relocate to safe places partly due to lack of compensation, absence of basic infrastructure and drought occurrence in relocation sites. Research limitations/implications The calculation of social vulnerability indices is beyond the scope of this study due to non-availability of quantitative data at community level. Originality/value This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of why some communities may fail to relocate despite being highly vulnerable to flood disasters.

Community Participation and Empowerment in a Post-disaster Environment: Differences Tied to Age and Personal Networks of Social Support

“…Likewise, critical situations, while they can be stressful and difficult to manage for some affected people, can also empower processes and skills for other participants in the community context, generating responses such as strengthening social organizations, increasing organizational capacity and community preparedness to deal with environmental disasters ( Mavhura et al, 2017 ). In addition, community participation is energized, which in turn increases cohesion and the bonding type of SC that can be observed to some extent in these results.…”

An Overview of Flood Risk Analysis Methods

“…South America (5%) [37][38][39][40][41] and Africa (4%) [42][43][44][45][46] showed less research interest (Figure 2). Following a detailed analysis of each region, we found that the most researched areas were: the United States, representing 13.19% of the total articles analyzed and 71.72% of the articles located in North America [47][48][49]; the United Kingdom, with 90 articles representing 17.92% of the articles in Europe and 6.78% of the total papers [50][51][52]; Italy and Spain, accounting for 5.27% of the entire articles and 13.94% of the scientific papers published in Europe, respectively [53][54][55]; and China, accounting for 5.27% of the total articles and 20.11% of the articles in Asia [56][57][58]. A significant percentage of publications also came from India, representing 16.6% of all Asian scientific articles and 4.37% of the total publications [59][60][61].…”

A multi‐objective framework for analysis of road network vulnerability for relief facility location during flood hazards: A case study of relief location analysis in Bankura District, India

“…Another important aspect of disaster adversity is the mass scale relocation of the populace and its management from the vulnerable locations to safeguard their interests. This is examined by studies of Mavhura, Collins, and Bongo () involving flood effects on the Tokwe‐Mukorsi community in Zimbabwe and Chen, Tan, and Luo () inspecting the Wenchuan earthquake. Nath et al () divide the disaster mitigation strategies for affected communities into two parts: first, a pre‐disaster strategy of moving the population for flood relief and second, the provision of emergency response services.…”