A Comparative Assessment of Flood Hazard Susceptibility Modeling in Niger State, North-Central Nigeria

Flood in Nigeria is becoming an annual event; it arises as coastal flood, flash floods, river flood, and urban flood. Years back states and cities in Nigeria experienced flood calamities that undermined the government’s ability to protect their residents. Heavy rains caused the country’s most disastrous flood catastrophe in 2012, which was classified as the worst in 40 years and devastated 33 states including Niger State of the 36 states, causing the loss of life and property. The findings of this study revealed that many topographic and hydroclimatic elements connected with the region’s geomorphological complexity are responsible for flood occurrence in Niger State. Anthropogenic variables, such as unplanned development and agriculture, exacerbate the impact of natural causes, according to field observations conducted as part of this strategy. To determine the extent of the phenomenon in the watershed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, detailed field observation, climate analysis, and literature review were used to select and weigh the parameters related to the triggering factors, and the AHP model was used to calculate the flood hazard vulnerability index by integrating and combining these parameters. The generated flood hazard vulnerability map developed in the case study gives a detailed insight into the watershed’s highly and extremely vulnerable sections. Thus, the vulnerability of the location was analyzed, and flood risk was equally assessed based on the “Standard Methodology for Climate-Related Disaster and Green Recovery” adopted for the study.