AN INVESTIGATION INTO COPING STRATEGIES AND MANAGEABILITY OF FLOOD HAZARDS AMONG RESIDENTS OF JALINGO, TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper focused on the understanding of‘coping strategics’ and ‘manageability^’ of flood hazard among residents ofjalingo city of Taraba State. Flood Manageability expresses how communities’ experience flooding and perceives the hazard in relation to their capacity to deal with the situation, depending on their resources and a range of coping mechanisms. Structured questionnaires relating to coping strategies were purposively administered to 150 respondents in the study area. The study revealed that some of the coping strategies included the movement of people and their properties to higher grounds during the flood, evacuation and abandoning the flooded area, relocating completely from the flooded area and constructing retaining walls, among others. The study recommends the dredging of River Mayo-Gwoi and construction of floods detention infrastructure to reduce the impact of flooding in the study area.