Assessment of 2010 flash flood causes and associated damages in Dir Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan
Abstract This paper identifies the underlying causes and damages caused by 2010 flash flood, which is considered one of the worst hydrological disasters in the country (Pakistan) Questionnaire based survey and structured interviews were conducted to investigate physical and economic damages in the selected case study Dir Valley. Global Positioning System (GPS) survey was also conducted to acquire location of damages and Geographical Information System (GIS) is used to visualize land use, land cover and damage data. Buffer analysis is used to delineate the effected strata on both sides of Panjkora River to assess the flood damages. Climate change phenomenon along with peculiar topography of the region are considered as the underlying causes as monsoon winds interacted with the jet stream abnormally causing unprecedented high intensity rainfall in the valley. The steep topography of the area caused rain water to accumulate rapidly in the Panjkora River, overpowering the withholding capacity of the river. The phenomenon resulted in severe flash flood which annihilated whatever came in its way. Upper zone in the target area is badly affected by flood with maximum damaged houses and human causalities followed by lower zone with high number of damaged bridges. This study will bring the attention of disaster management and other relevant authorities to focus on flood risk reduction by enhancing the retention capability of watershed in upstream areas that will reduce the risk in low lying areas.