Place-Based Assessment of Intersection of Biophysical and Social Vulnerability to Flooding in Accra, Ghana

Introduction

Recent geographical debates on Ghana’s disaster profile shows a connection between anthropogenic factors and disaster severity. For instance, Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organization - NADMO (2017) recognizes road traffic accidents and inter-tribal conflicts as claiming more lives (usually over 3000) per annum than deaths from all-natural disasters put together. This notwithstanding, counter arguments dominating the disaster literature posit that the lethal reputation of natural disasters in Ghana can be much more monumental but mostly, they go unnoticed. Arguments reinforcing the devastating effects of natural disasters often cite how perennial flooding over the past decades have claimed several lives and destroyed infrastructure and property than any other form of disasters (Table 1).

Source: Okyere et al., 2012; EM-DAT, 2015; Asumadu-Sarkodie et al., 2015

The main objective of this paper is to contribute to existing literature by taking a deeper look at how the intersection of geophysical events and social vulnerability amplify or attenuate the impact of floods in Accra. Specifically, the paper determines the degree of coincidence between flood hazard and social vulnerability, and analyzes the awareness and perception of residents of the identified sub-metro on flood risk.