Local Community Knowledge for Flood Resilience: A Case Study from East Coast Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia as a tropical climate country is vulnerable to dreadful climate change events; particularly floods. These frequent occurrences of floods severely affect one or other parts of the country. In reducing disaster risk and strengthening local initiatives towards climate adaptation, vulnerable communities particularly in rural areas have developed valuable local knowledge for flood resilience. This local knowledge is continuously practiced in facing disasters and it is passed down to the next generations. This study aims to examine measures taken by communities based on local knowledge they possessed from the three stages of disaster management cycle namely, before, during and after disaster. Local knowledge as asserted by scholars could complement scientific knowledge and build a comprehensive disaster risk reduction approach for local context implementation. A mixed method approach was adopted; case study method and household survey involving 90 respondents for quantitative data collection and field observation for collecting qualitative data. Three case study areas in East Coast of Malaysia have been selected for further observation including; 1) Lubok Setol village in Kelantan state; 2) Teladas village in Terengganu state; and 3) Gajah Mati village in Pahang state. Findings from this study indicated that all study cases have developed and adopted local knowledge strategies for flood preparedness and responses including; 1) agriculture techniques and livestock trading; 2) stock piling of food and other necessities; 3) marking flood level as historical record; 4) floodproofing animal shelter; 5) constructing overhead storage cabinet and outdoor hut, and; 6) saving boats for emergencies. As a conclusion, it is proven that local community knowledge plays crucial roles in reducing disaster risks hence contributing towards building a resilient community.

Gray Measure and Spatial Distribution Exploration of Local Emergency Resilience on Compound Disasters

“…Researchers have conducted extensive research on different areas involved in local resilience, in which community-level [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ] and urban-level [ 14 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ] are the most concerning issues. Community resilience denotes a community’s capacity to lead itself to overcome changes and crises [ 33 ]; related research shows that emergency management at the local scale-municipal government level and community level are interdependent.…”

“…Networks based on social capital [ 28 ] could improve the community’s emergency resilience [ 25 ]; thus, enhancing the community’s resilience to disasters is the primary goal of disaster management [ 26 ]. Disaster preparedness [ 27 ] and preparedness education [ 29 , 32 ] are national priorities [ 29 ], for which the policy is usually implemented by local departments [ 34 , 35 ]. Infrastructure [ 30 , 40 ], resources [ 33 , 36 , 41 ], as well as planning and warning communication [ 33 , 35 ] are indispensable elements of community resilience in disasters.…”

Urban community perception on social vulnerability to disaster: the case of Bukit Antarabangsa, Malaysia

“…The concept of social vulnerability within the disaster management context was introduced in the 1970s which incorporated discussions on socioeconomic factors as the main elements in addressing social vulnerability and resilience [1] [2]. In general, the term social vulnerability refers to the resilience of the community to address any potential harms caused by disaster or even disease outbreaks.…”

“…In general, the term social vulnerability refers to the resilience of the community to address any potential harms caused by disaster or even disease outbreaks. The ability of 1082 (2022) 012008 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1082/1/012008 2 a person and his community to manage and/or reduce social vulnerability can potentially decrease socioeconomic loss as well as emotional loss and suffering [1] [3] [4] [6]. For a long time, the study on community vulnerability focused on hazard assessment analysis, for instance, the community's exposure to hazard agents such as landslides, floods, sea-level rise, etc., and the potential exposure of populations, businesses and the built environment (including infrastructure, road system, housing, etc.)…”

“…For instance, the rich and the poor, owners and renters, and people from different economic statuses, races and religions are divided into different clusters, neighborhoods or housing schemes across the community. This "by-default design" (i.e., creating segregation) might put the vulnerable populations at greater risk during a disaster event [1] [3] [4]. Vulnerable populations are less capable to anticipate and respond from perceived threats due to a lack of socioeconomic capital/resources to fund their recovery, and limited access to information and technology hence will be less likely to bounce back after the disaster strikes.…”