An Assessment of an Urban Development-Flood-Impact Relationship in a Near Millionaire City of Cameroon (Bamenda)

摘要

Since the 1990s flood water hazards have recurrently created reasonvexing moments on the Cameroonian urban folk of major and minor towns byinflicting fatality toll beating-off manned efforts to mitigate the uglinessunleashed. Flood catastrophe in frequency and toll in towns sited on more inlandhighland towns like Bamenda has given birth to dynamic survival strategiessince impacts change in space and time. Northern Bamenda has emerged as havenfor ravaging River Mezam with rising forms of flood havoc on humans and theirinvestments. Primary and secondary data collected from related stakeholders(government and municipal officials concerned with abating the flood occurrenceand managing its aftermath as well as individuals who consciously or nottrigger the floods). The aim of this study was to relativize flood waterbearing on urban population reactions in the wake of the rising calamity.Results reveal that flood trends are advancing yearly in the like of fatalitiesthat systematically make nonsense of urban setup human endeavours to tame floods.This study considers that an urgent urban flood hazard perception revolutionmust be engaged for this unplanned urban front that is developing where thetopography presents a funnelling effect to stream water and so obviously has norespect for the existing flood countering socio-economic and engineeringadaptations. Such flood disrespect for urban humans call for man-centredinnovative and comprehensive paradigms should there be any hope for lesshazardous sustainable city growth in Cameroon.