Abstract:
Floods have serious consequences on community well-being and health. This study was
intended to address the health vulnerability of households in flood prone informal settle-
ments in the coastal city of Mombasa in Kenya and their adaptation measures. Mombasa
City has a history of floods, in the recent past, significant severe incidences of flooding
events have already been experienced. However, there is dearth of evidence regarding vul-
nerability of households living in informal settlements in the city to the health risks of
flooding and households’ coping mechanisms. The study participants were randomly drawn
from three purposively selected informal settlements in Mombasa City. Health vulnerabil-
ity was assessed in terms of flood exposure, flood sensitivity, and flood adaptive capacity.
While adaptation measures were explored based on the autonomous steps that household
have adapted in response to flooding. Primary data were collected using questionnaires,
Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions. The findings showed that up to
40.8% of the households had a high level of vulnerability, 46.9% had a medium level, while
only 12.3% had low level of vulnerability. The findings also showed that household char
-
acteristics, water, sanitation and environmental risk factors had an impact on the level of
household vulnerability. As coping mechanisms, households had taken some adaptation
measures like clearing trenches to unblock drainage channels and piling sand bags around
the house. The study concludes that for poor people living in flood prone areas in urban
setting, flood early warnings, flood preventive actions and long term mitigation strategies
need to be strengthened since they are exposed to greater health problems. The findings of
the study are expected to help communities and local support agencies to identify weak
-
nesses, especially in adaptive capacities, and to indicate ways of reducing future health
vulnerability of residents of informal settlements to flooding