Flood risk assessment for Davao Oriental in the Philippines using geographic information system‐based multi‐criteria analysis and the maximum entropy model

Flood risk occurrence can be better understood through the use of a spatial assessment. Thus, in this study, the flood-prone areas and flood risk due to pluvial flooding for Davao Oriental in Mindanao of the Philippines are assessed by a GIS-based MCDA based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method and maximum entropy (Maxent) model with seven criteria, such as elevation, rainfall, soil type, slope, drainage density, distance to the main channel, and population density.

This study finds that 55 and 22% of the total area of Davao Oriental are classified into moderate and high classes of pluvial flooding, respectively, and approximately 30% of the total population appears to be at high risk of pluvial flooding in the current situation by the AHP method.