Analysis of site suitability of evacuation area for flood disaster

Abstract

The worst flood was in December 2014 in Kelantan has given a big impact in term of property damage to that area. The flood has caused many victim lost their homes and has to find a shelter that is safe from the flood. So by determining the suitable area or shelter for evacuation it can help local authorities in flood disaster management in order to help evacuees to live in the safest shelter. This study was conducted to analyze site suitability of evacuation Centre when flood disaster occur. Shelter for evacuation also identified in the study area and the existing shelter for evacuation also analyzed to see their suitability against the flood disaster. DEM and hydrological data were used to produce flood extent map, which were important to identify the extent of flood in an area. The criteria that effect the evacuation suitability were identified such as the evacuation site or shelter must near to road and healthcare centre. By using Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) with Weight Linear Combination (WLC) and Analytic Hierarichy Process (AHP) technique, the criteria is weighted and combined with the flood extent. The result shows the suitability map for evacuation centre and the existing shelter is analyzed according to the suitable area map result. There is about 22 new propose evacuation centre based on the very high suitability from the suitability map of evacuation centre due to flood. Each existing and proposed evacuation centre is analyzed by factor, such as distance to health care, affected area by flood, and occupancy of the evacuation centre. These factors is weight overlay and the result shows that there are 4 from 22 existing evacuation centre are low suitability score, while 13 from 22 is in high and very high suitability, which were suitable for future flood event. The suitable site for establish temporary area also conducted where the result found 22 proposed empty land that is suitable for establish evacuation shelter or tents. This study can assist local authorities in planning, rescuing and relocating the flood victim to the safest evacuation centre.