Climate Crisis in Freetown: Examining the Flooding Adaptation Strategies of Coastal Informal Settlements, A Case Study of Culvert Community, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Changes in climate have altered rainfall patterns as we once knew them, triggering extreme weather events like floods and affecting millions of people across the world. The impacts of floods are persistent and severe in marginalized coastal communities with poor drainage infrastructure and limited government support. This study examined the flooding adaptation strategies of a coastal informal settlement, a case study of the Culvert Community in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Using a qualitative case study design, I collected data through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and transect walks. Findings revealed that community residents employ various strategies under the PARA framework. Residents “Protect” their community through periodic drainage cleaning exercises, filling sacks with gravel, and using old tires as artificial walls to prevent water from entering their homes, “Accommodate” through modifying housing structures like building multi-story houses with flood-resilient materials, increasing heights of foundations, and building double-staired corrugated zinc houses and creating storage areas by mounting shelves in their rooms, and “Retreat” by taking valuables to family/friends outside the community. The adaptive capacities of residents are shaped by social, cultural, political, and especially economic factors. The study concludes that the impacts of floods reveal not only the rapid shift in climate but also infrastructure deficits, governance issues, compliance challenges, and economic vulnerabilities. To reduce the impacts of recurrent floods in informal coastal communities, the study recommends strengthening institutional support, enhancing community engagement in policy formulation, and investing in flood-resilient infrastructure.