Rapid Assessment of the Macro and Sectoral Impacts of Flash Floods in the Solomon Islands, April 2014

A slow-moving tropical depression caused persistent heavy rains in the Solomon Islands between April 1 and April 4, 2014. The rains caused flash flooding in Honiara, Guadalcanal, Isabel, Malaita,and Makira-Ulawa. The flooding was the worst in living memory in some locations. It caused 22 fatalities across the country, internally displaced some 10,000 people initially, and affected approximately 52,000 people in total. It also damaged major infrastructure and destroyed 675 houses along with the food gardens that many people depend upon for their livelihood.

Priority activities and investments for managing flood risk and strengthening urban risk resilience have been identified and clustered as follows: (i) actions to modify the, (ii) actions to modify human use of floodplain, and (iii) actions to modify the human response to flooding.

This assessment covers the damage, loss, and needs across various sectors after the 2014 floods. To inform the government’s recovery and reconstruction strategy, the assessment also identifies priorities as well as the underlying causes of the floods. A section of the assessment provides the next steps for Building and Strengthening Urban Resilience (BSURE) Strategy.