Flood disaster risk mapping in the Lower Mono River Basin in Togo, West Africa

•The study focused on assessment and mapping of flood disaster risk in the Lower Mono River Basin, Togo.•All the communities in the Mono River Basin are exposed and vulnerable to flood disaster risk.•The communities have limited capacities to cope and recover from flood disaster.•Combining remote sensing data and socio-ecological indicators is the best way of mapping the flood disaster risk.•Positive attitude towards early action and early warning systems is recommended towards reducing flood disaster risk.

Flooding is the most devastating hydro-meteorological hazard in Togo. For instance, communities in the Lower Mono River Basin needs attention because they suffer the impacts almost every year. This paper focused on assessment and mapping of social flood risk in the Lower Mono River Basin, West Africa. The study combined GIS, Remote Sensing, and indicator-based flood risk assessment techniques in mapping flood disaster risk. The Risk Assessment Framework of Davidson (1997) and Bolin et al. (2003) that comprises Hazard, Exposure, Vulnerability and Capacity was adopted for the study. The resultant risk map shows that all the communities are exposed to flood risk but particular ones such as Agbanakin, Azime Dossou and Togbavi are found in areas with relatively high flood risk levels. Positive attitude towards early action and early warning systems, collaboration among disaster relief institutions and appropriate building codes are recommended for reduction of flooding disaster risk.