Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods

Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods

This paper examines the exposure, vulnerability, and ability of households in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to respond to floods, and brings out significant policy implications. The study used detailed questionnaire-based surveys to obtain data on households...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Patankar, Archana
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
FLOODS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
URBAN POVERTY
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT
VULNERABILITY
VULNERABLE GROUPS
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428881496669609310/Colombo-exposure-vulnerability-and-ability-to-respond-to-floods
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27285
id okr-10986-27285
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-272852021-06-08T14:42:47Z Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods Patankar, Archana FLOODS HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS URBAN POVERTY DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT VULNERABILITY VULNERABLE GROUPS This paper examines the exposure, vulnerability, and ability of households in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to respond to floods, and brings out significant policy implications. The study used detailed questionnaire-based surveys to obtain data on households, to understand the vulnerability and impacts of the severe floods of November 2010 and recurrent floods since then. Households that were selected for the surveys were located in and around flooding spots in the city. The study finds that the floods have imposed a significant burden on poor households. Poor and nonpoor households have suffered damages to the structure of their houses, household assets and appliances, and vehicles. With recurrent floods, they continue to bear the cost of damages as well as short-term measures to cope with floods. For poor families, these costs are borne through very limited resources and borrowing from informal sources, compared with the nonpoor who have more savings in financial form and greater access to formal sources of credit. Poor families tend to invest all their earnings in their home, furniture, and utensils, which suffer the most during floods. In addition, households suffer indirect impacts due to non-availability of transport, power, drinking water, food, and essential supplies. They also tend to lose workdays, which leads to loss of income and productivity. Many poor families have considered relocation to flood-free areas, but they lack the financial resources for the move. If the government offers such a scheme, many would be willing to take it up, if factors like job opportunities, clean surroundings, access to medical facilities, transportation, and good social networks are ensured in the new locations. 2017-06-21T15:46:12Z 2017-06-21T15:46:12Z 2017-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428881496669609310/Colombo-exposure-vulnerability-and-ability-to-respond-to-floods http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27285 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8084 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia Sri Lanka
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic FLOODS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
URBAN POVERTY
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT
VULNERABILITY
VULNERABLE GROUPS
spellingShingle FLOODS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
URBAN POVERTY
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT
VULNERABILITY
VULNERABLE GROUPS
Patankar, Archana
Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods
geographic_facet South Asia
Sri Lanka
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8084
description This paper examines the exposure, vulnerability, and ability of households in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to respond to floods, and brings out significant policy implications. The study used detailed questionnaire-based surveys to obtain data on households, to understand the vulnerability and impacts of the severe floods of November 2010 and recurrent floods since then. Households that were selected for the surveys were located in and around flooding spots in the city. The study finds that the floods have imposed a significant burden on poor households. Poor and nonpoor households have suffered damages to the structure of their houses, household assets and appliances, and vehicles. With recurrent floods, they continue to bear the cost of damages as well as short-term measures to cope with floods. For poor families, these costs are borne through very limited resources and borrowing from informal sources, compared with the nonpoor who have more savings in financial form and greater access to formal sources of credit. Poor families tend to invest all their earnings in their home, furniture, and utensils, which suffer the most during floods. In addition, households suffer indirect impacts due to non-availability of transport, power, drinking water, food, and essential supplies. They also tend to lose workdays, which leads to loss of income and productivity. Many poor families have considered relocation to flood-free areas, but they lack the financial resources for the move. If the government offers such a scheme, many would be willing to take it up, if factors like job opportunities, clean surroundings, access to medical facilities, transportation, and good social networks are ensured in the new locations.
format Working Paper
author Patankar, Archana
author_facet Patankar, Archana
author_sort Patankar, Archana
title Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods
title_short Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods
title_full Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods
title_fullStr Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods
title_full_unstemmed Colombo : Exposure, Vulnerability, and Ability to Respond to Floods
title_sort colombo : exposure, vulnerability, and ability to respond to floods
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/428881496669609310/Colombo-exposure-vulnerability-and-ability-to-respond-to-floods
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27285
_version_ 1764464106404839424

Similar Items