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In effort to understand and reduce flood consequences more effectively and strategically, flood risk assessment has been a cornerstone of a long-term flood management. One component of flood risk assessment is the estimation of a range of possible damage to an area exposed to flooding, that is, the vulnerability curve. The vulnerability curve can be depicted by a stage–damage relationship. This study attempts to investigate how vulnerability to flooding can be quantitatively assessed using a micro-scale approach in Malaysia’s vulnerable areas. A residential area in Kota Bharu was chosen as the case study area. Depth–damage relationships from a multiple regression function of Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia and spatial variability of residential buildings were used for the micro-scale assessment. Final estimates of expected annual damage were then calculated for each building type at 1-, 3- and 5-day flood durations. Results show that the methodology adopted is feasible to be applied for local-scale assessment flood risk assessment in Malaysia. The results also suggest that applying the methodology is possible when given wider availability of resources and information. This is particularly important for a robust end-to-end flood risk assessment for long-term effective flood management in Malaysia.

Information on the impact of flooding is fundamental to mitigating flood risk in residential property. This paper aims to provide insight into the seller disclosure of flood risk and buyer behaviour in the absence of mandated seller disclosure.

This paper adopts a case study approach to critically evaluate the matrix of flood information available for buyers purchasing residential property in Brisbane, Queensland. This paper uses big data analytic techniques to extract and analyse internet data from online seller agents and buyer platforms to gain an understanding of buyer awareness and consideration of flood risk in the residential property market.

Analysis of property marketing data demonstrates that seller agents voluntarily disclose flood impact only in periods where a flooding event is anticipated and is limited to asserting a property is free of flood risk. Analysis of buyer commentary demonstrates that buyers are either unaware of flood information or are discounting the risk of flood in favour of other property and locational attributes when selecting residential property.

This research suggests that improved and accessible government-provided flood mapping tools are not enhancing buyers’ understanding and awareness of flood risk. Accordingly, it is recommended that mandatory disclosure be introduced in Queensland so that buyers are more able to manage risk and investment decisions before the purchase of residential property.

This paper contributes to existing literature on raising community awareness and understanding of natural disaster risks and makes a further contribution in identifying mandatory disclosure as a mechanism to highlight the risk of flooding and inform residential property purchasers.

Floods have been identified as the most frequent and threatening disaster in Sri Lanka amidst an increasing trend of natural and man-made disasters in the world. Subject experts state that disaster risk management should be based on the results of risk assessments, but flood risk management in Sri Lanka is seemingly not based on community-level flood risk assessments. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to introduce a community-level flood risk assessment method to the local context of Sri Lanka.

The sample (n = 425) for the study was selected using the stratified random sampling method, and the Deduru Oya basin was selected as the study area. The risk assessment model introduced by Bollin et al. (2003) was used for the current study, but with some modifications. Accordingly, 16 variables were selected for the risk assessment. Descriptive data analysis methods were used in the study.

Community-level flood risk assessment method was introduced. Variable index, flood risk index and flood risk map were developed for the study area. The Grama Niladari Divisions (GNDs) were grouped into five categories from very high risk to very low risk. The GNDs named Wirakumandaluwa, Thimbilla, Deduru Oya, Bangadeniya and Elivitiya were ranked as the most flood-risk GNDs, respectively.

This paper produces a flood risk assessment method for the local context. Flood risk in the study area was assessed based on people’s perceptions. Accordingly, the flood risk index and flood risk map for the study area were developed based on the empirical data. GNDs were ranked based on the flood risk index.

The overall objective of this study is envisaged to provide decision makers with actionable insights and access to multi-risk maps for the most in-danger stave churches (SCs) among the existing 28 churches at high spatial resolution to better understand, reduce and mitigate single- and multi-risk. In addition, the present contribution aims to provide decision makers with some information to face the exacerbation of the risk caused by the expected climate change.

Material and data collection started with the consultation of the available literature related to: (1) SCs' conservation status, (2) available methodologies suitable in multi-hazard approach and (3) vulnerability leading indicators to consider when dealing with the impact of natural hazards specifically on immovable cultural heritage.

The paper contributes to a better understanding of place-based vulnerability with local mapping dimension also considering future threats posed by climate change. The results highlight the danger at which the SCs of Røldal, in case of floods, and of Ringebu, Torpo and Øye, in case of landslide, may face and stress the urgency of increasing awareness and preparedness on these potential hazards.

The contribution for the first time aims to homogeneously collect and report all together existing spread information on architectural features, conservation status and geographical attributes for the whole group of SCs by accompanying this information with as much as possible complete 2D sections collection from existing drawings and novel 3D drawn sketches created for this contribution. Then the paper contributes to a better understanding of place-based vulnerability with local mapping dimension also considering future threats posed by climate change. Then it highlights the danger of floods and landslides at which the 28 SCs are subjected. Finally it reports how these risks will change under the ongoing impact of climate change.

The purpose of this paper is to present a critical review of a criterion of risk, created to assess the flood risk of the international heritage building. In order to evaluate this criterion, it was applied to a sample of Portuguese building heritage.

This effort will start with the definition of the most important historical buildings in Portugal, its location and a full study about its constitution considering not only the materials they are made to but also the layers and the influence of the porosity/porometry for the drying process. Then it will also crucial the classification of the flood risk occurrence having in mind the previous information. A mapping will be made with the classification here developed.

This work presents a critical review of the main information related with the Portuguese monuments classified as “National Monuments”. A new empirical model was proposed takes into account all of the factors defined as the most influent in flood risk determination. A risk map was created on the basis classification developed. It will be possible to observe that a significant amount of Portuguese monuments are classified as medium to high risk of flooding.

This paper presents a new methodology to analyse the flood risk of international heritage building. The main benefit of the work is that it discusses the importance architectural heritage and justifies the need to safeguard it from extreme climatic phenomena such as floods.

Mombasa City in Kenya is one of the most vulnerable towns to flood risk due to its low-lying coastal location. Those at the highest risk in the city are households living in the flood-prone informal settlements. However, little is known about the perception of these vulnerable households to the flood risks and its health impacts, which is important for developing effective long-term adaptation strategies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the general perception of the residents regarding flood risks, its impact on their health and their adaptation strategies.

This study surveyed 390 randomly selected households in three informal settlements in the city of Mombasa using a semi-structured questionnaire. This was supplemented with six focus group discussions (FDGs) and six key informant interviews (KIIs).

The majority of respondent households perceive future flooding as high risk or severe with high negative health impact. Despite this, many do not evacuate their homes because they do not have alternative places to move to. Flooding was indicated to have had a negative physical and mental health impact on members of households. Although majority of households had taken some adaptation measures, most of these were short term, mainly due to financial constraints, lack of knowledge and government support. Perception of flood risk and gender were found to have a strong influence on taking long-term adaptation measures at the household level.

Reducing flood risk and averting its health consequences in flood-prone informal settlements require empowering and supporting those living in these areas with ability to initiate long-term adaptation measures and creating awareness about future risks.

This study provides evidence about how residents of flood-prone informal settlements perceive flood risk and how the exposures to perennial flooding impact their health. The paper augments existing knowledge of flood risk in poor urban neighborhoods of developing countries.

This paper aims to investigate reasons for unusual overdevelopment of floodplain areas outside river dyke, provide an insight into the importance of community perception of catastrophic flood risk in the riverside urban areas (RUA) of Hanoi and establishes the need for participatory disaster management planning and disaster management education in the study location.

Structured survey was conducted in five wards in the RUA to understand how residents perceived flood risk.

The low perception of catastrophic flood risk among communities was found to be an important factor in the continued development of the RUA and led to the trust in their houses as a prominent protective solution. Moreover, the flood vulnerability of the areas has been increasing due to the missing link between local authorities and community.

This paper examines community perception of flood risk as one of main factors. Other factors such as availability of options for housing, public participation and relevant policy interventions are beyond the scope of the paper and need to be studied in the same location.

To regulate the development of the RUA, community perception of catastrophic flood risk should be changed and community leaders should be motivated, with involvement of local authority at ward offices, to conduct comprehensive hands‐on community education programs.

Few researches have been done on the overdevelopment and community perception in the flood‐prone areas. This paper not only reaffirms the few studies made in the past but also suggests broad interventions for enhancing the flood risk perception among the community members.

This paper aims to examine the approach of UK institutional funds to considering flood risk to property investments in the light of their fiduciary duty, the widespread floods in 2007 and 2010 and the predicted increase in future incidence due to climate change. It explores the due diligence process and the challenges to investment decision-making and to property valuation. The case is made for further research to establish the extent of UK investment property potentially at risk from flooding, the degree of risk exposure and the way the risk is translated into valuations.

A comprehensive literature review informed the design of interviews with senior managers in major investment funds, their professional advisers and other stakeholder representatives, including environmental consultants, valuers, solicitors, lenders and the insurance industry. Case studies illustrate how the due diligence process is used to identify risks, inform purchase decisions and devise mitigation and management actions.

Property represents about 4 per cent of investments managed in the UK, but there is no clear picture of where and how much could be at risk of flooding. There is a common false assumption among investors that risk levels are unlikely to change and a reluctance to expose an otherwise hidden problem.

Property is an important diversification asset in investment portfolios, underpinning individual pension, insurance and savings plans. Prior research indicated flood risk to commercial investment property was under-researched; a need for awareness raising; and for guidance relevant to investors and their professional advisers.

In Kumamoto, Japan flood risk information is made available on several websites. In the event of heavy rainfall, local citizens need to access these websites and make household-level decisions. It is difficult for citizens to monitor all these sites, analyze and make effective decisions. Evacuation orders are issued by the local government who then filters the information to the relevant multiple stakeholders and local citizens. This takes time and reduces the response lead time of citizens especially in fast-onset floods. There was a therefore a need for illustrative integrated approaches, integrating these data sets.

Using precipitation, river water and tide level data, user-friendly real-time graphs were set up for the Shirakawa River, Kumamoto, Japan. Flood data were collected and used to create numerical simulations, and electronic community-based hazard maps were created.

The data gathered from the July 2012 flood event were used as a demonstrator, illustrating a flood event, as well as how to utilize the information provided on user-friendly real-time graphs’ website, to determine the location, future time and possibility of flooding. Additionally, an electronically generated flood hazard map-making process was developed for distribution across Japan.

These illustrative approaches are relatively new and have only been tested and evaluated in communities across Kumamoto, Japan. As such, it is too early to determine robustness and generalized applications worldwide, especially in data-scarce countries and communities. Improvements and maintenance are ongoing.

These illustrative approaches can be adopted and utilized in cities and communities around the globe, thereby helping in overall disaster risk-reduction initiatives and better flood risk management strategies.

These illustrative approaches are new to Kumamoto City and Japan. These provide citizens with user-friendly real-time graphs that can be accessed anytime and used in flood hazard preparations, warnings, response or recovery.

Purpose – Flooding has become a recurring phenomenal in most cities in Nigeria. The 26 August 2011 flooding disaster which occurred in Ibadan is only an indication of magnitude of flooding problem in Nigerian cities. This chapter examines the impacts, vulnerability factors and disaster risk management framework in Ibadan metropolis.

Methodology/Approach – The survey design was used for the study and covers eleven local government areas (LGAs) affected by the flood. The study utilized both primary and secondary data. The primary data were obtained by physical observation and in-depth interview of affected households. In-depth interview was also carried out with key officials of State Ministry of Environment and Housing. The study also relies on the data from the Oyo State Government Task Force on Flood Prevention and Management report.

Findings – The chapter shows that the 26 August 2011 flood disaster in Ibadan metropolis caused monumental destructions in the city. The continuous construction on flood plains, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, excessive rainfall and deforestation were identified as the main vulnerability factors. The chapter shows that there is no adequate framework for disaster risk management in the city.

Research limitations – About 250 affected households in 11 LGAs were interviewed for the study due to time and budget constraints. This figure is considered meagre considering the number of affected households by the flood disaster. However, the random selection of affected households and key government officials helped to address this limitation.

Originality/value of chapter – The simultaneous identification of impacts, vulnerability factors and disaster risk management framework in the city provides an opportunity for the development of a holistic and proactive disaster risk management strategy in Ibadan metropolis.