Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
is majorly concentrated within urban space and other settled areas. To improve
on this and possibly minimize this error, human footprints such as building
activities and settlement structures which were extracted from temporal
satellite data (and accurately checked with Google data) were used as a basis
for calculating density. In other words, the primary human settled areas were
included in the estimation.
Notwithstanding, even within the human settled areas population
concentration is not homogenous, so care should be taken when using the
estimated vulnerable population information because some areas may be over-
estimated and some underestimated. This however, depend on the expected
level of information needed.
On the one hand, if the purpose is to derive maximum degree of accuracy
pertaining to the vulnerable population, (in most cases this is always a mirage
because flood risk modeling is basically estimation and prediction), a
comprehensive ground population count is recommended using the generated
flood prone area map of the region. On the other hand, if the purpose is for
substantial decision making and policy relevance, (mostly involving imminent
and uncertain factors) it is most appropriate to know the correct pattern and
dimension rather than the exact number of people (Taubenbock et al., 2011),
thus this estimation method is preferred because it is based on up-to-date
remote sensing data and statistical figures.
C ONCLUSION
The most effective method of combating and mitigating the impact of
flood disaster is to conduct a pre-risk assessment and identify vulnerable
factors before a flooding episode. This is the case for more advanced countries
of the world, but for developing countries especially those found in Africa
region, the case is far from disaster preparedness. In these countries, with
particular reference to Nigeria, public policies concerning flood management
are oriented towards disaster alleviation and provision of aids.
Public decision makers and other governmental framework in Nigeria find
it more convenient to setup ad hoc disaster emergency management agencies
with huge financial budget instead of concentrating manpower, technical skills
and available financial resources on potential flood impact assessment and
mitigation. The reason for this mono-perspective policy is generally lack of
well synthesized planning information.
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