Area vulnerability to flooding in Rangkasbitung District and its surroundings, Lebak Regency, Province of Banten

Department of Geography, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: kuswantoro@sci.ui.ac.id

Abstract

There are frequent floods in Lebak Regency, especially in the central city, i.e., Rangkasbitung and its surroundings, which is detrimental to local society. In the last five years, there has been 43 times the flood disaster. The problem of this flooding has not been entirely resolved, although there are indications of an increase in frequency, duration, and distribution in the study area. This study discusses the vulnerability of the area to flooding based on social, economic, and physical characteristics. K-Means Clustering is used to analyze the level of vulnerability for each village from 39 villages in Rangkasbitung, Cibadak, and Kalanganyar Districts. The results showed that the vulnerability level to flooding is dominated by a moderate level spread in the center of the study area. In contrast, the high level of vulnerability spread in the eastern and western parts of the study area. These results can be used as a basis for determining the flood risk areas in future studies.