FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS: THE PAST AND PRESENT

A flood is a runoff of water that sinks land that is generally dry. Floods are causes not only by rain but also by human changes to the surface of the earth. Flooding occurs as an overflow of water from water bodies, such as a river, lake, or ocean, in which the water overtops or breaks embankments. It results some of that water escaping its usual boundaries or it may occur due to an increase of rainwater on inundated ground in an areal flood. Deforestation and urbanization increase the runoff from rains thus inundate vast areas today that previously caused no flooding. The careless building in vulnerable areas, poor watershed management and failure to control the flooding create the disaster condition. This paper presents a literature review on flood damage assessment in urban areas and their applications. It also describes the methodologies used for assessing the flood damage.