Variability in Flood Sensitivity: A Household-Based Perception Study in Lagos Metropolis Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change has severe impact and one of such is incessant flooding with complex and far-reaching consequences on humans, the natural and built environment. While different flood types and impact are evident in many countries, little is known about the impact of each flood type on households. Based on this gap, this study seeks to understand the variation in flood sensitivity at household level in Lagos metropolis, Nigeria. This evolved a question of whether statistically significant variations exist in pluvial, fluvial and coastal flood sensitivity in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria by delineating spatial zones based on different flood types. Stratified random and systematic sampling techniques are used for data collection through questionnaire survey from 512 selected households. The data collected were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with the Levene Statistic serving as a pre-test of homogeneity of variance and the Tukey HSD of multiple comparison as a post hoc test. Findings showed that the sensitivity to flood was higher in males than females and the low income earners in all the flood zones. Observing similar flood exposure, the aggregate results indicate no statistically significant difference in flood sensitivity across the zones as the p-values are greater than the significant level of 0.05. It is concluded that households that have experienced surface, river and surge flood expressed similar perception of impact to these flood types in Lagos metropolis.

Keywords: Disaster Management, Climate Change, Coastal Flood, Urbanisation Impact, Environmental Hazard and Risk