A Qualitative Approach to the Causes and Consequences of the May 2024 Flood in Mashhad City

Articles in Press

Document Type : Case Study

Authors

• Mohammad Gholami ¹
• Mahdi Kolahi ²

¹ Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

² Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Water and Environment Research Institute, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

10.22067/jwsd.v12i1.2408-1355

Abstract

Natural disasters, particularly floods driven by human activities, are among the leading causes of loss of life and property worldwide, posing significant obstacles to achieving sustainable development goals. This study investigates the causes and mechanisms behind the May 2024 flood in Mashhad, the second-largest metropolitan area in Iran. Utilizing a qualitative analytical approach, the required data were gathered through dialogue-based panels involving experts, officials, and concerned stakeholders. Following the transcription of discussions, key insights were extracted and categorized into open, axial, and selective codes. The findings revealed that human-related factors played a more prominent role in both the occurrence and the catastrophic impact of the flood.  These included "improper urban design", "improper traffic management", "lack of proper urban development", "lack of attention to scientific issues", "incorrect human perspectives", "legal obstacles", "human aggravating factors", and finally "management factors". Also, the issue of "climate change" was recognized as the only natural factor that played a lesser role in the discourses in causing floods. Therefore, issues such as unsustainable urban development, land degradation, and lack of attention to risk management instead of crisis management can be highlighted as the most important root issues that caused the occurrence and, more importantly, the disaster of the flood in May 2024. Accordingly, establishing unified urban management through consensus and significant unity between all organs such as the municipality, officials and governmental institutions, civil society, and the public is essential to prevent the recurrence of such destructive trends.

Keywords

• Collective Action
• Participatory Decision-Making
• Sustainable Development
• Land Degradation
• Risk Management

Main Subjects

• Water, Ecosystem and Environment

References

دائی نبی، میلاد، و ابراهیمی، مهدی. (1400). تحلیل تطبیقی رویکرد‌های نظریه داده بنیاد. فصلنامه علمی تخصصی فرصت، 5(2021401)، 87-113. https://forsatsj.ut.ac.ir/article_86780_1778284132a21b6297a47d620394c29e.pdf

کلاهی، مهدی، و برومند، امیرعلی. (1403). ریشه‌‏یابی علل حاشیه‌‏ای شدن ارائه درس شناخت محیط‏ز‌یست در آموزش عالی ایران. فصلنامه علمی آموزش محیط زیست و توسعه پایدار، 12(3)، 9-28. https://doi.org/10.30473/ee.2023.65087.2557

Amitrano, D., Di Martino, G., Di Simone, A., & Imperatore, P. (2024). Flood detection with SAR: A review of techniques and datasets. Remote Sensing, 16(4), 656. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16040656

Awah, L. S., Belle, J. A., Nyam, Y. S., & Orimoloye, I. R. (2024). A Systematic Analysis of Systems Approach and Flood Risk Management Research: Trends, Gaps, and Opportunities. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 15(1), 45-57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00544-y

Blasi, S., Ganzaroli, A., & De Noni, I. (2022). Smartening sustainable development in cities: Strengthening the theoretical linkage between smart cities and SDGs. Sustainable Cities and Society, 80, 103793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103793

Bonou, A., Zafar, S., & Ammara, S. (2024). Floods, Poverty, and Happiness of Rural Farmers in Northern Benin. Economies, 12(3), 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12030052

Brázdil, R., Faturová, D., Šulc Michalková, M., Řehoř, J., Caletka, M., & Zahradníček, P. (2024). Spatiotemporal variability of flash floods and their human impacts in the Czech Republic during the 2001–2023 period. EGUsphere, 2024, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1467

Fatica, S., Kátay, G., & Rancan, M. (2024). Floods and firms: vulnerabilities and resilience to natural disasters in Europe. European Commission, Joint Research Centre. SSRN. 4796097 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4796097

Fazel-Rastgar, F. (2020). Extreme weather events related to climate change: widespread flooding in Iran, March–April 2019. SN Applied Sciences, 2(12), 2166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03964-9

Hoang, D.-V., & Liou, Y.-A. (2024). Assessing the influence of human activities on flash flood susceptibility in mountainous regions of Vietnam. Ecological Indicators, 158, 111417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111417

Ishiwata, H., Sakamoto, M., Ikeda, M., & Anbumozhi, V. (2024). Quantitative analysis of optimal investment scale and timing for flood control measures by multi-regional economic growth model: Case studies in Viet Nam. Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. Jakarta, Indonesia.

Javadinejad, S. (2022). Causes and consequences of floods: flash floods, urban floods, river floods and coastal floods. Resources Environment and Information Engineering, 4(1), 173-183. https://doi.org/10.25082/REIE.2022.01.002

Jonkman, S. N., Curran, A., & Bouwer, L. M. (2024). Floods have become less deadly: an analysis of global flood fatalities 1975–2022. Natural Hazards, 120(7), 6327-6342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-06444-0

Karampourian, A., Ahmadi, C., & Samarghandi, M. R. (2024). Explaining Factors Affecting Flood Evacuation From the Point of View of Stakeholders: A Content Analysis Study [Research]. Health in emergencies and disasters quarterly, 9(2), 115-124. https://doi.org/10.32598/hdq.9.2.494.4

Khalid, N., Behrman, J., Hannum, E., & Thapa, A. (2024). Floods and Children’s Education in Rural India. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 10(1), 230-254. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2024.10.1.10

Long'or Lokidor, P., Taka, M., Lashford, C., & Charlesworth, S. (2024). Nature‐based solutions for sustainable flood management in East Africa. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 17(1), e12954. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12954

Miri, J., Atighechian, G., Seyedin, H., & Raeisi, A. R. (2024). Post-Disaster Damage and Loss Assessment in the Iranian Healthcare Sector: A qualitative study. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4488913/v1

McDonald, H. P. (2014). Environmental philosophy: a revaluation of cosmopolitan ethics from an ecocentric standpoint. Vol. 273. Rodopi. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Nahar, K., Tajuddin, N. A., & Sulaiman, S. (2024). Obstacles to Women’s Adaptation and Capacity- Development in Flood-Affected Areas of Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 9(4), e002794. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v9i4.2794

Nabiyeva, G. N., Wheeler, S. M., London, J. K., & Brazil, N. (2023). Implementation of sustainable development goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities): initial good practices data. Sustainability, 15(20), 14810. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014810

Nadimpalli, S., Mathew, S., & Cheranda, T. M. (2024). (Re) envisioning inclusive futures: Applying narrative foresight to deconstruct the problem of urban flooding in the slums of Bengaluru, India. Development Policy Review, e12786. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12786

Nekoei-Moghadam, M., Moradi, S. M., & Tavan, A. (2024). How can the Sendai framework be implemented for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development? A qualitative study in Iran. Globalization and health, 20(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-024-01028-w

Nguyen, H. D., Nguyen, Q.-H., Dang, D. K., Van, C. P., Truong, Q. H., Pham, S. D., Bui, Q.-T., & Petrisor, A.-I. (2024). A novel flood risk management approach based on future climate and land use change scenarios. Science of The Total Environment, 921, 171204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171204

Niemets, K., Kravchenko, K., Kandyba, Y., Kobylin, P., & Morar, C. (2021). World cities in terms of the sustainable development concept. Geography and Sustainability, 2(4), 304-311. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geosus.2021.12.003

Ogryzek, M. (2023). The Sustainable Development Paradigm. Geomatics and Environmental Engineering, 17(1), 5-18. DOI:10.7494/geom.2023.17.1.5

Pouyan, S., Pourghasemi, H. R., Bordbar, M., Rahmanian, S., & Clague, J. J. (2021). A multi-hazard map-based flooding, gully erosion, forest fires, and earthquakes in Iran. Scientific reports, 11(1), 14889. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94266-6

Safajou, F., Nahidi, F., & Ahmadi, F. (2024). Reproductive health challenges during a flood: A qualitative study. Nursing Open, 11(1), e2044. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.2044

Scussolini, P., Luu, L. N., Philip, S., Berghuijs, W. R., Eilander, D., Aerts, J. C., Kew, S. F., van Oldenborgh, G. J., Toonen, W. H., & Volkholz, J. (2024). Challenges in the attribution of river flood events. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 15(3), e874. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.874

UNDRR (2022). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022: Our World at Risk: Transforming Governance for a Resilient Future. UN. https://www.undrr.org/gar/gar2022-our-world-risk-gar#container-downloads. August 11, 2024

UNDRR (2023).  2022 Global Natural Disaster Assessment Report. https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/2022-global-natural-disaster-assessment-report August 11, 2024

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development (A/RES/70/1). Retrieved from https://sdgs.un.org/goals. August 11, 2024

WMO. (2024). Floods. https://wmo.int/about-us/world-meteorological-day/wmd-2020/floods. August 11, 2024

Yari, A., Ardalan, A., Ostadtaghizadeh, A., Zarezadeh, Y., Boubakran, M. S., Bidarpoor, F., & Rahimiforoushani, A. (2019). Underlying factors affecting death due to flood in Iran: A qualitative content analysis. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 40, 101258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101258