Abstract

This study sought to explore the root causes of the Limbe 2001 floods disaster. It made use of the forensic approach as use in disaster study relevant to understand the root causes of the disaster. The city of Limbe is hit yearly by floods and landslides, with the disaster of 26th and 27th June 2001 recording 30 deaths, with a total of 330 houses destroyed, affecting 3000 people, after a record breaking rainfall.

In order to learn from the deadly 2001 floods that triggered landslide, this work seeks to conduct a forensic investigative study of the flood disaster so as to know the root causes, the environmental, social and economic effects, the socio-economic factors that influenced the disaster and the administrative weaknesses that led to the disaster.

The study was conducted in four localities (Mabeta New Layout, Towe, Mbonjo, and Mowoh) for three months and those targeted were those affected and those that witnessed the flooding event. A descriptive cross-sectional research survey method was applied throughout this study, data were collected with the use of questionnaires, field observation, to realize the root causes of the disaster, the environmental, and the socio-economic effect of the disaster and the socio-economic factors that influenced the disaster.

Equally other long-term effects were realized with use of questionnaires like the number of deaths recorded, the diseases suffered due to deterioration of health as result of the flood. An interview guide was equally use to investigate the administrative weaknesses that led to the flood disaster.

The findings of this study provides an insight understanding of why occurred and the way forward. It was revealed that the root causes were actually rainfall (21%), poor town planning (20%), back flow of water (4%), poor drainage system (21%), nature of terrain (15%), poor construction (5%) and the soil nature of Limbe being loose due to heavy rains actually increased its susceptibility to landslide as result of the 2001 floods.

It was equally revealed that the 2001 floods led to huge destruction of properties in the four localities that were hit (Mabeta (23%), Towe (19%), Mbonjo (12%), and Mowoh (11%)), huge loss of lives  (Mabeta (23%), Towe (17%), Mbonjo (0%), and Mowoh (0%)),  huge loss of livestock (Mabeta (25%), Towe (17%), Mbonjo (14%), and Mowoh (10%)), some infrastructural facilities were slightly shut down for some period of time (Mabeta (11%), Towe (9%), Mbonjo (7%), and Mowoh (5%)), also during the flood disaster the population was in total fear and panic since some people face psychological trauma due to fact that many of them loss their love ones Mabeta (23%), Towe (19%), Mbonjo (13%), and Mowoh (10%)), the population equally suffered from some diseases as a result of deterioration of health Mabeta (12%), Towe (7%), Mbonjo (3%), and Mowoh (0%)), some of these diseases include raches, cholera, typhoid. From the study as well it shows that socio-economic condition (34%), land tenure (34%), lack of necessary information (48%), poor risk perception on floods (49%), poverty (46%), actually influenced the 2001 floods.

This susceptibility to 2001 floods alongside the landslide was fostered by human activities and notably house constructions, cutting of the slope for foundation deforestation and poor governance. Due to the fact that these natural causes are unavoidable, emphasis has to be laid on the man-made causes of the flood which can be controlled.

These include population growth, disaster risk policies, participatory governance, and poverty pushing people to risky zone. This disaster of course could have been avoided without weak governance and inadequate disaster risk policies. If the natural factors could be perceived as beyond human control, most of the man-made factors could be avoided if disaster prevention policies were implemented.

In fact, the authorities acknowledged that Limbe I Municipality was a disaster prone area with high susceptibility to floods and land slide and these areas was officially recognized as risky zone. People were not allocated building permit for any construction works to be carried out around the area.

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