Assessing hazards and risk has always been a difficult task for planners and decision makers, although it is absolutely necessary in order to produce plans and policies which address these risks and reduce them to guarantee proper human development.
This research aims to provide a comprehensive approach to disaster risk assessment that can be implemented by planners and decision makers in either a top-down or a bottom-up approach with the aid of the community. For this purpose, the Flood Risk Index was created. This index uses indicators which assess the different aspects that determine risk (hazard, exposure, and vulnerability), as well as the capacity of the population to cope or adapt to disaster and hazards. Furthermore, it also considers the perception of risk and behaviour of people in regards to their knowledge of the risks to get a broader sense on how to best reduce it.
Finally, the Flood Risk Index assessment provides guidelines into what measures should be taken and prioritised to reduce risk. In this sense, the Flood Risk Index can also be used in the future as an evaluation tool for planners and community members to determine whether the interventions done for flood risk reduction have achieved its objectives.