Community resilience to floods in the coastal zone for disaster risk reduction

Abstract

The northern coast of the Central Java province is considered to be the critical area of flood path. The area is vulnerable to floods because of incessant rain and/or sea-level rise, resulting in suffering to people and the deterioration of the ecosystem. A number of measures have been implemented to manage the problem of floods, although the results are not noteworthy. It is obvious that infrastructure capacity for flood control, community awareness and other multiple factors significantly contribute to averting the problem of flooding in the area. This study aimed to determine the level of flood-zone vulnerability, the level of community resilience to floods and the influence of vulnerability aspects on community resilience. Interviews were conducted to outline the resilience model. A quantitative method was employed to analyse the data. The results of this study indicated that the exposure aspect is the greatest variable in describing flood vulnerability. At the same time, the greatest variables determining community resilience are damages, followed by losses and personal casualties. Among the flood vulnerability aspects are the exposure and adaptive capacities that determine the community resilience of the northern coast of Central Java.

FIGURE 1

Location of the study area.