Flood/torrent vulnerability risk analysis of Arhavi district (Artvin)

The Eastern Black Sea region is becoming more vulnerable to floods, especially due to factors such as the spread of urbanization after the construction of the coastal road, the concentration of the increasing population in the district centers, the occupation of stream beds, zoning amnesty, deforestation and climate change. The flood disasters are becoming more frequent and destructive, day by day. On July 21st, 2021, Arhavi (Artvin) faced a flood incident that caused serious material damage. Although there has been no loss of human life, some of the stray animals in the animal care center died by drowning. The infrastructural systems and agricultural lands were damaged. After the flood disaster, determining Arhavi's vulnerability and risks to floods became a necessity. The aim of this study is to detect the flood vulnerability and risk in Arhavi, by comparing the subbasins using the "vulnerability and risk analysis" method and to present nature-based solution suggestions against flood threats that may occur in the future. For vulnerability and risk analysis, a comprehensive literature review was first conducted. Field work was carried out in all villages of Arhavi, and factors that could affect the flood were determined through observation. A conceptual framework was created by explaining general definitions and concepts related to floods. After Arhavi district borders were divided into seven subbasins through ArcMAP 10.3 software, the data obtained from CORINE system were mapped and digitized. The impact chain was created using the data obtained and the vulnerability risk indicators were compiled under the headings of "Hazard", "Exposure", "Vulnerability" and "Adaptation Capacity". After the numerical data were subjected to normalization and weighting processes, vulnerability and risk were determined for each subbasin. In the final step, the findings were mapped and visualized for a better comparison. Existing and alternative flood control approaches are mentioned in the results and discussion sections. Through interviews with local people, information was collected about what precautions were taken against floods in the past, some examples of combat methods around the world were compiled, and nature-based solution suggestions were put forward to combat floods as an alternative to current flood prevention efforts.