Facts and Trends of Urban Exposure to Flash Flood: A Case of Kuala Lumpur City
Improving Flood Management, Prediction and Monitoring
ISBN: 978-1-78756-552-4, eISBN: 978-1-78756-551-7
Publication date: 21 November 2018
Abstract
Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is exposed to several natural hazards, among which flash floods are most common and frequent. Expanding development and higher intensity of rainfall are the primary causes of flash floods. As the urbanisation is growing, the number of exposed properties, people and business premises are also increasing. This may have a detrimental impact on the socio-economic state of the city. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to investigate the frequency and intensity of flash flood occurrences between 2011 and 2016 and to delineate how it is impacting the urban livelihood. For this study, several news reports of flash flood events, previously published and reports were reviewed to elicit information so that the frequency and intensity of flash floods can be analysed for identifying flash flood risk areas. Along with the information from newspapers, Google map was used to identify the spatial locations of flash flood events, thus identifying the risk zones. This study found the City Centre as the most risk prone to flash floods. It was noted that 39% of flash floods occurred in this place. The Damansara-Penchala area comes in the second position with 20% of flash floods occurring in this place. Most of the people of these zones are exposed to flash flood and the affected people suffer from road blocking and heavy traffic jam. This study will help researchers and policymakers to understand the impact of flash floods in the city. This will also help to identify the most flood-prone areas of the city.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the project ‘Climate Related Disasters’ (DPP: 2015-097) and ‘Integrating Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Loss and Damage to Address Emerging Challenges due to Slow Onset Processes’ (APN: XX-2014-008) for providing financial support for this study.
Citation
Bhuiyan, T.R., Reza, M.I.H., Choy, E.A. and Pereira, J.J. (2018), "Facts and Trends of Urban Exposure to Flash Flood: A Case of Kuala Lumpur City", Improving Flood Management, Prediction and Monitoring (Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Vol. 20), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 79-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-726220180000020016
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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