A systematic review on approaches and methods used for flood vulnerability assessment: framework for future research

Floods have always been associated with widespread devastation and destruction since the emergence of human civilization. The intensity of this disaster has been increasing due to accelerated impact of human activities. Flood vulnerability is very diverse in nature and is multidimensional and a topic of vital significance. Hence, flood vulnerability assessment assumes greater significance since magnitude of destructions varies over space and time. The study makes a credible attempt to present a coherent review on the approaches and methodologies used for assessing flood and its vulnerability. A time frame of 1990–2018 was chosen for analyzing varied works carried out flood vulnerability and susceptibility assessment. Articles from Scopus and other reputed journals were used to review the works on flood assessments. Methods and approaches were examined by considering most-cited authors and keywords used in their works. The study revealed a gap existing between methods and approaches for evaluating flood vulnerability which can be incorporated by using high-resolution data along with using multidimensional approach for assessing vulnerability. Furthermore, this study calls for comprehensive flood assessment using artificial neural network, hydrodynamic models and geospatial techniques to provide a vivid visualization of flood susceptibility. The study may prove helpful in analyzing different components of vulnerability and guiding research gaps in methodology to be used for assessing flood vulnerability at spatial scales.