JCARM Journal of Contemporary Academic Research and Methodologies JCARM 3139-7247 Ivory and Finch Publishers 10.5281/zenodo.21324270 JCARM_JUL_26_010 Original Research Article Social Vulnerability Indicators and Their Relationships with Flood Hazard Determinants in Jalingo Metropolis, Nigeria Nashuka Kaigama Francis https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2370-1013 Federal University Wukari frankaigama@gmail.com Ike Onyemenam Prince https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6599-3496 Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Nigeria Bitrus Tsenfwa Musa Federal University Wukari 12 07 2026 1 5

Social vulnerability is how income, gender, age, education, housing type and other personal factors make some people more exposed to floods. In fast-growing Nigerian cities like Jalingo, we do not know which social factors are most linked to flood risk. This study tested 8 social factors against 8 flood risk determinants amongst 437 households in Jalingo’s 10 DMAs. We used Pearson correlation in SPSS. Social factors tested were gender, location, age, education, house ownership, income, years in the area, and occupation. Flood risk determinants were flood hazard perception, climate change impact, urban change impact, institutional support, amenity value, self-protection, responsibility, and other risk concerns. The results revealed house ownership as the strongest factor. Owners knew more about floods and worked with the government more than tenants. r = .099 with flood perception and r = .243 with institutional support, both significant. Location and education are linked positively to climate change worries. Gender and occupation are linked negatively to the climate change impact. Age is linked negatively to amenity value. But no social factor is linked to self-protection or responsibility. In Jalingo, owning a house makes people more aware of floods and more likely to join government programmes. This shows that flood risk in Jalingo is not the same as in other cities. Flood plans here must target tenants and match local social patterns.

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