Flood Vulnerability Index Based on Indicator Approach in Assessing Flood Risk in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Floods are one of the most common and damaging natural disasters, claiming lives, and causing significant economic damage. Urbanization can increase the risk of flooding due to increased water runoff and volume. This study focuses on a flood vulnerability assessment approach as a planning tool by combining the Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) with variables available in urban development areas. This index was created by combining the variables of three components: exposure, susceptibility, and resilience. FVI is a critical element in risk management and flood damage assessment. Vulnerability is described in FVI research as the amount of damage that can be predicted under conditions of exposure, susceptibility, and resilience. Vulnerability studies frequently use an indicator-based vulnerability assessment to estimate the complexity and degree of risk. FVI reflects the vulnerability of urban areas. Secondary data were used to obtain variables for the social and economic components. A quantitative method was used to calculate the correlation of each variable with flooding via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The indicators are categorized as exposure, susceptibility, and resilience, and these indices were created using normalization, weighting, and aggregation of the indicators. To determine the flood vulnerability in Selangor, a small number of indicators were selected to quantitatively assess the flood risk in Selangor. Based on calculated FVI, the vulnerability of the districts in Selangor has been ranked and categorized from high to very low. The result shows Gombak and Klang are the most vulnerable districts in Selangor to flooding because of their high exposure to flooding. The results of this study could serve as a reference tool for future flood risk mitigation efforts in Selangor.