Disaster Risk and Urban Vulnerability: A Study on the Rain/windstorm Disaster and its Damage to Buildings and Infrastructures in Minna, Niger State.

Abstract

Understanding what risk is all about marked the starting point in combating the inflictions of hazard on human settlements. Hazard in its real sense is a natural event aggravates by human activity, however, it turns to be a disaster if strike an unprepared environment. Rain/windstorm hazard is a kind of hydro-meteorological hazards lie flood, mudflows, debris and lots more which destroys the natural landscape of human settlements. In lieu of that this study aimed at examining the impact of disaster caused by rain/windstorm hazard and its damage to buildings and infrastructure in the city of Minna. Questionnaires were administered to track the event of this disaster in different parts of the city, for the analysis on the incidence, nature and extent, the coping capacity and the factors responsible level of disaster in respect to damages on buildings and infrastructure, using a stratified sampling technique for primary source of data to compliment the secondary sources that establishes it as a phenomena. The analysis on this study revealed that, the incidence of rain/windstorm damage to property is true and do happens on a frequently basis between the month of April-May every year. The nature of the disaster has majorly been on residential structures, and infrastructure, with the roof, plot fencing and wall of the buildings, suffered more. The traceable factors have been humanly induced in nature, while the coping mechanism shows non familiarization with the conventional reduction initiatives. Against the background, the study proffers recommendations on the need for immediate and future approaches, to solving both the already existing problems and the potential risk threats that could occurs in time to come. The approaches focus on the physical planning procedures and disaster risk reduction initiatives through the development of framework that is structurally balance, contextual justified, policy stable and institutional oriented.