Abstract
In the Limbe Subdivision of Cameroon, landslides and flooding are frequent threats. The worst recorded event occurred in June 2001, when floods and landslides took the lives of some 30 persons, left over 2000 people homeless, and destroyed property and social amenities including roads and telephone lines worth hundred of thousands of US Dollars. The objective of this project was to assist local administrative officers, other decision makers and planners to understand which areas to concentrate their efforts on in order to develop mitigation actions to protect the lives of the population in these zones that are affected by flooding and associated landslides. To meet this objective the project made extensive use of geospatial tools and existing digital spatial datasets. Series of field data collection exercises constituted an integral part of the project. The project focused on the Limbe subdivision in the south-western part of Cameroon. Areas with high (greater than 60%) probability of sliding to occur, occupy 23% while areas with medium (greater than 40% and less than 60%) probability of sliding to occur occupy 44% and areas with low (less than 40%) probability of sliding occupy 33%. Settlements along the Atlantic coast all lie less than ~50m above sea level. These settlements (villages) are susceptible to flooding. Again settlements in the town of Llimbe along the Djenguele river, i.e., Animal Farms, Cassava Farms, Lumpsum areas, Church Street, New Town and Down Beach, are more susceptible to inundation during raining periods and therefore have experienced persistent flooding over the years.
Highlights
Most of the geologically related hazards in Cameroon are linked to the existence of the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL)
Such hazards include toxic gas emissions from volcanic crater lakes, landslides, floods, and hazards related to volcanic eruptions
There are more than 35 crater lakes that occur in association with basaltic cinder cones, scoria and lava flow fields along the continental sector of the CVL (Ateba and Ntepe, 1997)
Summary
Most of the geologically related hazards in Cameroon are linked to the existence of the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL). In the last century and early this century Cameroon recorded a series of natural disasters that were identified to be located within and around the corridors of the CVL (Tchoua et al, 2001) These disasters include: The Lake Manoun toxic gas disaster in which 37 people were killed (1984), the Lake Nyos toxic gas disaster, which claimed some 1700-2000 lives (1986) (Kusakabe et al, 1989), the Bafaka Balue Landslide with 3 lives lost (1995) (Ayonghe et al, 1999), the Mount Cameroon (MC) volcanic eruption where lava consumed an enormous amount of forest (about 800 hectares) with its rich biodiversity and cut-off 83 metres of tarred road which disrupted economic activities (1999) (Suh et al, 2003).
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