GIS-Based Flood Shelter Accessibility and Population Risk Assessment in Gangachara Upazila, Rangpur

Abstract

This thesis focuses on assessing flood shelter accessibility and population risk in Gangachara Upazila, Rangpur using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The main objective of the study is to support better transportation planning during flood events and help reduce disaster-related risks for local people. OpenStreetMap (OSM) and satellite images were used to identify household locations and roads. QuickOSM and other tools in QGIS were used to map buildings and connect them to the nearest flood shelters. Manual measurements were taken to find the travel distance from each house to its assigned shelter. A database was created that includes house numbers, population per household, and travel distance. Although individual coordinates for each house were not used in the beginning, this limitation has been acknowledged. Still, the analysis provides valuable insights about the existing road network and how people can reach shelters during floods. This work contributes to the field of transportation engineering by offering a clear, data-based view of emergency accessibility, which can help future planning and improve local disaster response systems.