Abstract:
Flood hazards are natural disasters that profoundly influence the environment and society. To effectively control the
incidence of flooding, it is crucial to identify and map regions susceptible to flooding. The Modjo catchment is frequently
hampered by flooding, making it crucial to map and identify flood hazard zones. This study aimed to identify and locate
the flood hazard zones of the Modjo catchment employing the integrated use of multi-criteria decision-making and
geoinformatics tools. Ten influencing factors were used to develop flood hazard zones: drainage density, curvature,
rainfall, distance from the river, soil type, elevation, slope, topographic wetness index, land use/cover, and the normal
ized difference vegetation index. Subsequently, raster-formatted thematic layers of these influencing elements were
created, and appropriate weighting was assigned based on their relative responses to the occurrence of flood events
and overlayed using the overlay GIS spatial analysis tool. The flood hazard potential zone in the study area was generated
and classified into five groups: negligible, low, intermediate, high, and severe. According to the results, the negligible,
low, intermediate, high, and severe zones were represented by 0.686% (9.74 km2), 16.73516% (237.5649 km2) 74.12%
(1052.28 km2), 8.44% (119.94 km2), and 0.0012% (0.018 km2), respectively. The weighting and ranking processes are well
reflected in the final flood hazard zone map. The results revealed that a substantial area of the catchment is at risk. Ulti
mately, 29 observed flood datasets were used to confirm the outcome, yielding an accuracy of > 75% and an area under
the ROC curve of 0.868. Most of the flood point data were found in high and severe regions. Considering the verified
results, relevant organizations should participate in creating sustainable management plans.
