Vulnerability of riverine communities to flooding in Makurdi town, Nigeria

Abstract

Riverine environments are of significant economic, ecological and social importance to the global population. They are however, under increasing pressure from rapid anthropogenic developmental activities and the effects of climate change. This paper characterizes vulnerable riverine communities, their level of vulnerability, and suggests adaptive measures for the vulnerable communities. Coastal vulnerability index (CVI) adapted by Palmer (2011) is used to measure prescribed physical parameters of Bank width, Coastal slope, Distance of vegetation behind back of the River Bank, Distance of communities from the river, Percentage rock outcrop, Avalanche risk and Presence of braided channels. Vulnerability levels of the communities were classified based on the CVI index (Very low, Low, Moderate, High and Very high). The result shows that Wurukum and Wadata with indices of 26 and 25 respectively have very high vulnerability to flooding, Fiidi has an index of 22 indicating high vulnerability while both High level and North Bank have values of 14 each meaning low vulnerability. The study recommends dredging of river Benue, building of embankments and avoiding building in marshy areas that are flood prone in Makurdi town.