Floods and Rainstorms Impacts, Responses and Coping Among Households in Ilorin, Kwara Stat

Floods and rainstorms affect households each year in Ilorin and contribute to endemic poverty among the poor households in the city. Climate change and anticipated increases in extreme weather events will exacerbate this. This study examines the impacts of flooding and rainstorms in the city and the current responses and coping among the affected households. The social risk management (SRM) and asset-based approaches on which the study is based provide a conceptual framework for understanding the sequential links between risks; human exposure and sensitivity; the impacts of risky events; and risk management (or adaptation) strategies. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. The secondary data include data from the Kwara State Emergency Management Agency (KSEMA) on flood victims in the State between 2007 and 2009 while the primary data is a structured questionnaire administered to flood and rainstorm victims randomly selected from the KSEMA records. This study brings out the important issue of vulnerability, coping and adaptation to weather induced disasters among the urban poor. A Multiple linear regression model tested shows that the house characteristics and neighbourhood quality contribute significantly to vulnerability to rainstorm and flooding. The study revealed that the indigenous coping mechanisms employed by the poor may become less effective as increasingly fragile livelihood systems struggle to withstand disaster shocks. Strategies to reduce vulnerability should be rooted in vulnerability analysis and greater understanding of both household-level and macro-response options that are available to decrease the poor’s exposure to climate risk. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n4p13