Flood disasters have become increasingly frequent and severe in recent years, posing significant threats to communities worldwide. The intertwining issues of flood disaster preparedness and its impact on livelihoods call for a deeper understanding of the underlying conceptual and theoretical frameworks. This paper explores and analyzes the fundamental conceptual and theoretical understanding, debates, and discussions underpinning flood disaster preparedness regarding household livelihoods. More than fifty conceptual and theoretical academic literature and book chapters from authentic sources are reviewed to develop the paper. Key debates on flod disaster preparedness and its relation to livelihood are focused on power dynamics, memory, interdisciplinary collaboration, and multidimensional perspectives are key areas highlighted in the previous study. Several theories on disaster management, such as the Pressure and Release (PAR) Model, Access Model, Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) Approach, Resilience Theory, Social Capital, Participation Theory, and World-System Perspectives are beneficial to global communities to enrich knowledge in flood disaster management. The paper also investigates the implication of flood myths across cultures, which serve as narratives incorporating religious symbolism and explaining catastrophic floods. Furthermore, the study found that the unequal distribution of resources leads to varying levels of vulnerability. Structural and non-structural mitigation, climate change and uncertainty, community participation and equity, cultural beliefs, personal experiences, social networks, and technological advancement are also the key debates and discussions associated with flood disaster preparedness.

Similarly, this study found key research gaps in the concept and theories. These gaps are methodological, addressing new hazards, shifting societal norms, technological advancements, globalization, urbanization, migration, intersectional dimensions of gender, socio-economic status, cross-cultural and cross-contextual beliefs and practices, and structural constraints. Finally, this paper contributes to the body of knowledge on flood disaster preparedness and livelihood change in sociology by providing a comprehensive overview of the topic.