Coping with Floods in Pikine, Senegal: An Exploration of Household Impacts and Prevention Efforts
by
Hilary Hungerford 1,*
, Sarah L. Smiley 2, Taylor Blair 3, Samantha Beutler 1, Noel Bowers 4 and Eddy Cadet 1
Hilary Hungerford 1,*, Sarah L. Smiley 2, Taylor Blair 3, Samantha Beutler 1, Noel Bowers 4 and Eddy Cadet 1
1
Department of Earth Science, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT 84058, USA
2
Department of Geography, Kent State University at Salem, Salem, OH 44460, USA
3
Global Change Ecology Program, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
4
Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Urban Sci. 2019, 3(2), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3020054
Received: 9 February 2019 / Revised: 9 May 2019 / Accepted: 15 May 2019 / Published: 18 May 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Disaster and Recovery)
African cities are at increasing risk for disasters, including floods. Pikine, Senegal—located on the outskirts of the Dakar metropolitan region—has experienced regular floods since 2005 due to a rising water table, dense settlement, and inadequate drainage. The goal of this research was to assess household experiences of floods through in-depth qualitative interviews in one area of Pikine. A total of 44 households were interviewed on the economic and health impacts of flooding and their perceptions of flood mitigation strategies. Our research confirmed that floods create substantial economic and health burdens for families and that infrastructure projects have helped, but not solved, the flooding issues. Our research also had some unexpected findings, particularly relating to concerns over drinking water, land tenure and housing prices, and perception of government intervention.
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Keywords:
flooding; flood impacts; vulnerability; coping; flood prevention; Dakar
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MDPI and ACS Style
Hungerford, H.; Smiley, S.L.; Blair, T.; Beutler, S.; Bowers, N.; Cadet, E. Coping with Floods in Pikine, Senegal: An Exploration of Household Impacts and Prevention Efforts. Urban Sci. 2019, 3, 54.
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