Flood risk mapping and communication guideline for multi stakeholder to reduce disaster risk at Shah Alam, Malaysia

Abstract

Flooding happens because of excessive water content in an area when heavy rain falls over a long period. Due to rapid climate change, uncertain rainfall patterns, and manmade activities, flooding incidents all over the world have increased losses and damages, mainly due to inadequate preparedness for flood disasters among multistakeholders. Therefore, this study aims to developed flood risk map and provided multi-stakeholders with a communication guideline for the better use of a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based flood risk map following the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) 2015-2030 to reduce flood risks. Thus, this study (1) investigate the criteria and its weightage for flood risk mapping, (2) develop flood risk mapping to reduce disaster risks, and (3) developed a communication guideline based on Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) for multistakeholders to better use flood risk mapping in reducing disaster risks at Shah Alam, Malaysia. The criteria for flood risk measures were collected via literature reviews and interviewing 20 experts in 2023 using Quadruple Helix Multi-stakeholders model to get the weightage for each criteria following the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The identified criteria, such as rainfall, land use and land cover, distance to river, distance to road, slope, elevation, and drainage density, were suitable to prepare the flood risk map for Shah Alam. Similarly, the data from JUPEM, DID, and secondary sources was collected and analyzed using GIS software following the AHP method to develop a flood risk map of Shah Alam. The flood risk map shows that the southern zone is the most affected and high-risk zone, while the middle zone has a moderate risk, and the northern zone is a low-risk zone for flooding in Shah Alam. Moreover, a communication guideline for multi-stakeholders was prepared following thematic analysis of qualitative information from the interviewed of 20 experts using Taguette 1.4.1 software. The communication guideline following the themes of UNDRR showed the benefits of using GIS; information about GIS, limited access, high cost, and lack of equipment are very important to the community and multi-stakeholders for understanding and using flood risk maps in flood management. To validate the data and results, all 20 participants have been contacted twice to improve the findings by filling in the gaps about the use of GIS in managing flash floods at Shah Alam. The major contribution of this study is to prepare a communication guideline via adopting and modifying the 4 major themes of UNDRR for better use of GIS maps by multi-stakeholders in the flood risk management framework. In conclusion, overcoming the challenge of flash flood management in Shah Alam requires multistakeholder collaboration, public awareness, and community involvement to mitigate the risk. Improving public education on GIS will further strengthen future flood management efforts in Malaysia towards sustainable development.