Driving in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, has been a challenge for the past couple of weeks. Heavy rains have caused flooding in several suburbs and have sometimes made it impossible for public transport to operate normally.
With water pumps provided by the government to some suburbs, rain water has been diverted to the streets to avoid flooding in houses. This has made the situation even more difficult for both pedestrians and for transport. Other cities like Thiès, Diourbel, Saint Louis and Kaolack have faced similar problems.
Dibo Bandiane, a mother of three children, had to leave her home in Dalifort, a suburb of Dakar, last week when the water level rose up to her knees. Her family is one of 70 that are currently displaced in Senegal, mostly in schools.
Assessment
According to an assessment conducted by the Senegalese Red Cross, approximately 3,500 families are affected by the floods in the whole country. An evaluation is currently taking place to define people mostly in need of assistance to avoid health problems related to stagnant water.
In all West and Central Africa, approximately 11,000 families (70,000 people) have been affected by the floods so far. Three thousand families are homeless and 46 people have died either in floods or in landslides following heavy rains. Last year, during the worst floods for decades in the region, the death toll was 257 and altogether 800,000 people were affected.
This year, the West and Central Africa zone of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has developed programmes to avoid the extent and type of human misery and devastation that struck the region last year.
Preparedness
The first step was to organize a flood preparedness meeting last May for all flood prone Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the West and Central Africa zone in order to inform and prepare them. The next step was to build partnerships with scientific institutions to get more systematic data related to extreme weather conditions. Partnerships have since been created with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia University and with the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD).
According to the data received from partners, there were indications that several West African countries could experience very wet conditions or flooding in July, August and September this year. Based on this seasonal prediction, the IFRC launched a preliminary emergency appeal of 750,000 Swiss francs in July to support preparedness measures among Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the West and Central Africa region. One of these measures was to preposition relief items, food and emergency stocks in three different cities in the Zone: Dakar, Accra (Ghana) and Yaoundé (Cameroon). The stocks available for a rapid distribution in any part of the Zone were funded by the Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).
The IFRC West and Central Africa Zone has also developed contingency plans for seven societies (Senegal, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Gambia, Niger, Burkina Faso) and to train 15 regional disaster response teams ready to be deployed within 48 hours after a disaster.
Information
“I believe people are now better prepared also at the community level. For example, in Mali, communities dug ditches for better drainage and volunteers have passed information messages on weather conditions on local radio. People have been made more aware of what can happen following heavy rains,” says Norbert Allale, disaster response manager at the IFRC’s Dakar zone office.
In Togo, the IFRC is trialling an early warning system in villages close to rivers and hence at high risk for floods. Poles with different colours indicating water level after heavy rains will be installed.
“When the colour is green, people know that there is no danger. When it’s orange, the community must be alerted and people should start securing their belongings. And finally, in the case of red colour, people at risk need to start moving to safe places like schools, churches or other places marked as temporary shelters,” explains Youcef Ait-Chellouche, disaster management coordinator at the IFRC’s West and Central Africa zone office in Dakar.
Disaster
According to Youcef Ait-Chellouche, only a third of West and Central African National Societies have a preparedness component in their disaster management policy. There is still a strong need to develop risk reduction programmes, simple people-centred approaches for early warning systems and to train volunteers to inform people in flood prone areas.
But even if preparedness measures are developed and weather predictions are taken into account, there will always be a need to respond rapidly to disasters.
Thanks to the emergency stock in place in Dakar, Senegalese Red Cross volunteers with the support of the IFRC were able to distribute mosquito nets and mats to 20 displaced families just one day after they had been displaced from their inundated homes. This was all possible because ACMAD had provided the IFRC with information about the coming heavy rains. In the morning following the rains, the Senegalese Red Cross volunteers were already on the ground evaluating the damage.
On September 10, the International Federation launched a revised appeal for flood preparedness in West and Central Africa, with a special emphasis on Togo, Benin and smaller-scale flooding operations. The revised appeal now seeks 1.08 million Swiss francs (US$ 983,000 / € 670,000) to support 2,025 families beneficiaries for the next two months. |
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In Dakar suburbs rain water has been pumped to the streets to avoid flooding in houses. (p18239)
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| A family from the Diamaguène suburb of Dakar. Around 70 families are displaced in Senegal due to heavy rains. Some have moved into schools with all their belongings. (p18240) |
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| It has become difficult to move around in some parts of Dakar after two weeks of heavy rains. (p18241) |
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| Dibo Bagiane received a mosquito net and mat from Senegalese Red Cross volunteers. (p18243) |
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| Adama Bari with the mosquito net and mat distributed by the International Federation and Senegalese Red Cross.
(p18244) |
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