Colombo city districts are shown in Figure 4 above. After the November 2010 floods, CMC has identified 43 flooding spots in these districts as shown in Figure 5. The study carried out detailed questionnaire-based surveys of 250 households located near the flooding spots. The survey has covered five districts of Colombo city and detailed maps for each survey area are given as Annex 3 to this paper. The survey has tried to capture vulnerability and impacts on households located in and around the major flooding spots. However, CMC does not have detailed land use maps available for different areas within the city. Hence, this study has not been able to analyze the details of the total number of residential and commercial establishments exposed to floods, approximate number of residents facing recurrent floods and the total wealth exposure.

# 4.2 Vulnerability and impacts of floods

In order to understand the vulnerability and impacts of floods, a survey of 250 households was carried out. As reported by the survey enumerators, there is a mix of poor and middle income households around most flooding spots. However, exact information on the location of relatively poorer people vis-à-vis all the flooding spots in the city is not available in the absence of detailed land use maps. Total sample size of 250 households is not a very large sample but representative enough to understand the vulnerability of households to flood hazard. The sample is drawn from 15 intervention sites across Colombo city using stratified random sampling. Hence, results drawn from this sample would give reasonably good insights into vulnerability of households to flood hazard. This section analyzes the socio-economic profile of the surveyed households to understand vulnerability and impacts of recurrent floods.

## <u>4.2.1 Socio-economic profile</u>

The household survey across five districts of Colombo city reveals distinct characteristics of families that help us to understand more about their socio-economic status and extent of vulnerability to floods. Most families have been living in the same area for around 30 years with about 17.6% migrating from rural areas in the past two decades. This corresponds with the urban-rural and migration statistics in Sri Lanka. Unlike cities in other developing countries, Colombo does not experience influx of migrant population from rural areas in big numbers.

The average family size among surveyed households is 4-5 persons and there is generally only one earning member in each family. The heads of the households are mostly not qualified beyond higher secondary or grade 8 and are either engaged in private service or are self-employed. For instance, 56% of heads of household have studied only up to higher secondary and 30.4% have studied up to Grade 8. 23% are engaged in private service, 15% in own business and 20% are self-employed professionals. 12% are skilled workers and 10% are unskilled. Remaining are in government service or retired.

The most crucial indicator of the socio-economic status of households is their family income. The surveyed households have been classified on the basis of their monthly income as seen in Figure 6. The District Official Poverty Line estimated using the spatial price index values calculated at the district level by the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2012-13 data indicates the 15