Mapping Flood Hazard, Exposure and Vulnerability in An Giang, Vietnamese Mekong Delta

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Mapping flood risk across An Giang's 155 communes. A study co-authored by Can Thu Van and colleagues weighs 42 criteria of hazard, exposure and vulnerability, finding 10 communes at high flood risk, mostly agricultural areas in An Phu District. Can Thu Van et al., including Dung Duc Tran (HAPRI Senior Research Associate). Illustrative photograph, not the study site: in flood season in the Mekong Delta, a farmer paddles a small wooden boat along a flooded rice field while a woman moves a sack of rice higher on the veranda of a stilt house, with floodwater around its posts.

Mapping Flood Hazard, Exposure and Vulnerability in An Giang, Vietnamese Mekong Delta

www.hapri.org

Dung Duc Tran — Senior Research Associate

A study co-authored by Can Thu Van, Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy, Can The Viet, Le Ngoc Anh, Vu Thi Van Anh and Dung Duc Tran (HAPRI Senior Research Associate) maps flood risk across An Giang province and finds that 10 of its 155 communes are at high flood risk. As a headwater province of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, An Giang is considered the most vulnerable to the impacts of floods, and the study's maps show which communes face the highest hazard and the highest risk.

Context

Flood risk management is a critical concern worldwide, as communities and regions face growing threats of flooding from climate change, urbanization, and natural variability.

In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, An Giang is a headwater province on the border with Cambodia, and it is considered the most vulnerable province to the impacts of floods. That makes it a key setting for understanding where flood risk lies within the delta.

*Highest hazard and high vulnerability, in different places*

Methods

The authors applied a flood assessment framework that combines floods with economic, social and environmental factors, using a set of 42 criteria covering hazard, exposure and vulnerability. They weighted these criteria with the Analytic Hierarchy Process, then produced flood risk maps to assess the scale of risk across the province's communes.

Key findings

Khanh An and Long Binh communes, primarily located in An Phu District on the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, are at the highest hazard levels, with scores of 0.68.
Tinh Bien District, relatively far from An Phu, has a high level of vulnerability even though it is not heavily inundated.
Overall, 10 of the 155 communes in the province (6.5%) were at high flood risk, which the authors relate to these communes, mostly located in An Phu, having predominantly agricultural areas with a relatively poor population.
A further 121 communes (78%) showed a moderate flood risk level, while the rest (15.5%) are at very low or no risk.

Policy implications

The authors state that mitigation measures should be developed to reduce flood risk across the province within the Vietnamese Mekong Delta context, and that the study sheds light for deltas worldwide on developing similar methods for flood risk management.

Keywords:

Vietnamese Mekong Delta
An Giang
Flood Risk Management
Flood Risk Mapping
Vulnerability
Analytic Hierarchy Process

Link:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104429

Citation:

Van, C. T., Thuy, H. T. T., Viet, C. T., Anh, L. N., Anh, V. T. V., & Tran, D. D. (2024). Unveiling flood vulnerability in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: A case study of an Giang province. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 106, 104429.