By Ignatius Banda BULAWAYO, Feb 19 (IPS) Southern Africa is entering flood season. Governments and policy makers have been challenged to adopt a more preventive approach to disaster management by the Red Cross – what measures are in place?
Heavy rains at the end of January in the Vaal River basin sent a flood crest as high as eight metres down the Orange River that runs from Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia. Floodwaters have been reported further north in the Okavango River.
In the Zambezi River basin – shared by eight countries – communities are on alert for annual flooding and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is among the agencies preparing to help wherever it's needed.
Last year, the Red Cross issued a report titled "Early warning, early action". IPS spoke to IFRC disaster management coordinator Farid Abdulkadir about how lessons collected in that report are being applied to reduce risk of death and the impact of displacement across the region.
Q: Last year the IFRC warned that when floods come, communities are usually ill prepared to deal with the crisis. Has this changed this year? A: There has been some change this year. We have worked with meteorological departments in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries to monitor the weather patterns and climate change. It is much better than last year because we have been able to see the floods coming.
Reports we are getting is that this year El Niño will not see as much (rainfall) as weather patterns have changed. However, we are still on the alert as we are getting reports of possible floods from the metereological departments of countries such as Angola and Namibia.
Q: Which countries have been affected, and can these countries expect more floods in the weeks and months to come?
A: We are monitoring seven countries that lie along the Zambezi river basin where water levels get higher, but this has been nowhere near human settlements so this somewhat mitigates the effects of the floods. We however do have hot spots like the Okavango river in Namibia that we are closely monitoring as the waters there are also rising. About two million people live along the Zambezi and what we are doing is making sure that people are moved from high to low ground as part of flood mitigation efforts.
The problem here is that some communities are reluctant to move from their traditional habitats as this is where they derive their livelihoods. Therefore they will stay put or return soon after the floods recede only to have a replay of the same in the next season. We then have situations where people respond to emergencies that relief agencies and sometimes governments would have been aware of already.
The fact that we are working with metereological departments in SADC means we are closely monitoring the floods so we are not taken by surprise when (the floods) come.
Q: Tell us more about the Zambezi River basin initiative. How does it seek to assist communities that lie along the Zambezi?
A: Among other things, the Zambezi river basin initiative emphasises country-by-country policy implementation such that people abide by laws. For example (regulations) say people must not live along the river banks as this obviously puts their lives in danger.
We also capacitate people to be able to live safely with floods. This involves, for example, constant awareness programmes during the rainy season to enable communities to monitor water levels. Awareness also involves notification of the possibility of evacuation to higher ground as said before, which is in many ways the safest (course of action) for communities which lie on the flood path.
Q: How have people been affected, be it by displacements or deaths? A: There haven’t been any known casualties so far but it is still too early to celebrate because the meteorological offices we are working with say we can expect flooding along the Zambezi for the next four or so months. So we cannot say we have passed the flood danger zone.
There is still work to be done. And because of the unpredictability of the weather patterns brought about by climate change as seen through both flooding and drought in the region, this has meant the work is more than doubled as we seek to avert any major disasters brought by the floods.
Q: What kind of assistance do affected communities get from the Red Cross and other agencies? A: When communities are displaced, we provided them with water treatment chemicals, food supplies, blankets, tents in some cases. We are also on the lookout for secondary disasters like the outbreak of waterborne diseases which usually come with flooding, for example cholera. So we ready ourselves for all this, not just flooding.
Yet it must be said that we continue making appeals for funds as the Red Cross cannot assist all who might be affected by floods. It therefore must be a concerted effort with governments also playing their part in making sure their populations are adequately catered for in times of crisis.
We are on the lookout for damaged crops as that is why we expect also to assist with food packs as livelihoods are destroyed by floods.
Disasters will continue occurring and we encourage community awareness such that the people are aware of the effects of climate change on their lives.
