An Assessment Of The Level Of Flood Preparedness In Chitsungo Ward 10 Of Mbire District Zimbabwe.

Author

Juankinyu, Wilfred

Title

An Assessment Of The Level Of Flood Preparedness In Chitsungo Ward 10 Of Mbire District Zimbabwe.

Abstract

The history of disaster in Zimbabwe shows that community households have been severely affected by flooding disaster. Flooding resulted in widespread impacts which include loss of life, injuries, infrastructure destruction and environmental degradation disturbing the functioning of the environment caused by lack of flood preparedness and effective response. Household flood preparedness is not considered much in Zimbabwe, rather than being prioritized for all community households. But community households in Zimbabwe have a responsibility to ensure a community environment that is favorable and safe for day to day living. The research aimed to assess the level of household flood preparedness in Mbire District in Chitsungo ward 10 with 1432 households which were randomly selected and assessed. Through questionnaires, key informant interviews, observations and focus group discussions, data was collected to identify existing flood preparedness measures and resources in the community, barriers to effective flood preparedness and the contribution of local institutions to effective flood preparedness. The study revealed that the community households were affected by flooding disaster. Besides having high exposure of households to flooding, the majority of households had not undertaken adequate flood preparedness measures, activities and strategies to reduce the impact of flood disaster in Chitsungo ward 10. The findings of this research show that households are less prepared to flooding. Therefore, local communities should develop preparedness measures by conducting regular drills and simulations, developing emergency plans, identifying flood prone areas and create evacuation routes so that everyone would be aware. In addition, local institutions should allocate resources to enhance community resilience by setting aside fund for infrastructure development, training and education of community members and support community-based projects.

Date

June 2025

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Flood Preparedness

Chitsungo Ward 10

Assessment

Supervisor

N/A