Proceedings of the 2nd (Hybrid) International Conference, Faculty of Social Sciences, Niger Delta University, Held on March 13, 2024
March, 2024
Pages 98-129
DOI: 10.36108/wjss/ConfP.2024.007
EFFECTIVENESS OF MITIGATION STRATEGIES ON THE IMPACT OF 2018 FLOODS ON RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN BAYELSA STATE
Inivie Richard Abraham and Tonye Vivien Odubo
Abstract
Mitigation strategies are known to have effectively reduced the devastating impact of floods in several regions of the world. With the unpredictability and increased frequency of flood occurrences, individuals and governments are striving to develop effective structural mitigation strategies suitable for their specific regions. This study examines the effectiveness of the post-2012 flood structural mitigation strategies implemented in Bayelsa State during the 2018 floods. The study was carried out in two communities each, from six local government areas affected by the 2012 and 2018 floods in Bayelsa State. The study utilised the systematic sampling technique to select the flood-affected building occupants who responded to the 420 copies of structured questionnaires, of which 399 copies were suitable for the analysis. Analysis of the data was achieved using Descriptive and Inferential statistics. The study identified 7 structural mitigation strategies implemented by the government. It was observed that 5 strategies were fairly effective but were not evenly distributed in the different local government areas. The study found that the effective strategies did not correlate with the 2018 building damage reduction due to the sparse number implemented in the study area. The study concluded that the few mitigation strategies implemented were insufficient and not sophisticated enough to effectively reduce the impact of the 2018 flood. The study recommends, amongst others, that the government should embark on massive structural mitigation strategies in all the local government areas of the state and support research on technology-driven structural mitigation strategies unique to Bayelsa State.
Keywords: Effectiveness, Structural mitigation strategies, 2012 and 2018 floods, Residential Building
Damages, Bayelsa State.