Evaluation of natural hazard risk for coastal districts of Bangladesh using the INFORM approach

Coastal districts of Bangladesh are increasingly suffering from climatic hazards (e.g., cyclone, flood, saltwater intrusion). Tropical cyclones and floods particularly affect millions of people almost every year. Massive property damages and life losses are a common scenario when these disasters hit the coastal belt. Moreover, due to climate change impact, saltwater intrusion is increasing significantly in the coastal districts, especially during dry seasons impacting crop production and drinking water sources. The amount of asset and population exposed to natural hazards have increased significantly in the coastal belt, which has exacerbated the risk of natural hazards. Previous studies on the disaster risk of coastal districts of Bangladesh did not explicitly account for the key vulnerability and lack of coping capacity parameters that are crucial for a comprehensive risk assessment. This study assesses the disaster risk of 19 coastal districts of Bangladesh using the Index for Risk Management (INFORM) model. The multi-layered INFORM framework particularly assesses the risk of coastal communities considering socioeconomic vulnerabilities and vulnerable groups as well as institutional and infrastructural coping capacity under multiple hazards. Forty-five core risk indicators are used to evaluate the final risk score of the communities. The outcome of the study shows that 11 districts are facing moderate to very high level of risk in the coastal belt. The island district, Bhola, has the highest level of risk among the coastal districts, whereas Cox's Bazar, Chandpur, and Feni districts fall into the lowest risk region. In addition to hazard susceptibility, poverty & development, vulnerable health condition and access to the health care system are key vulnerable factors that potentially increase the overall risk. The outcome of this study is expected to be useful for preparing an effective disaster risk mitigation plan by decision-makers.