Recognizing that safe and adequate water supplies are an essential component of fighting poverty and disease, the Asian Development Bank Water for All Publication series focuses on understanding the water issues facing poor people in the developing nations of Asia and the Pacific.

Flood mitigation projects worldwide tend to follow a standard engineering-oriented approach. This paper suggests problems with this method, examines water-related disasters from the affected poor households' point of view, and proposes steps to help flood-prone communities prepare and cope more effectively.