Flooding in Sri Lanka is a perennial event. Each year weather related hazards such as floods, landslides and cyclonic storms cause misery for thousands of families who are forced to leave their homes to find temporary shelter.
At the end of 2007 the onset of the north easterly monsoon brought widespread flooding to districts across the north, east and central areas of Sri Lanka, affecting 250,000 people at their peak in late December. Over the past few days further heavy rains have lashed the district of Ampara affecting over 100,000 people. Eleven district branches of the Sri Lanka Red Cross have been at the forefront of relief efforts distributing cooked food and relief items such as bed sheets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, hygiene items and hurricane lamps.
Responding to natural disasters and reducing the risks faced by vulnerable communities is one of the foremost priorities of the Red Cross’ disaster management programme. Since the middle of 2006, the Red Cross has been steadily building up a network of Branch Disaster Response Teams (BDRTs) across the country with the aim of improving the skills of staff and volunteers to manage emergency relief activities. Each BDRT comprises between 25 – 30 volunteers and staff who undergo a week-long intensive training course.
During the recent floods the BDRTs have played a pivotal role. The teams were deployed to conduct rapid and detailed needs assessments. They have been involved in local relief efforts and are now looking at conducting post floods rehabilitation activities in some districts.
“The main role of the teams is to carry out needs assessments during an emergency and then lead initial Red Cross relief efforts to help affected communities in coordination with key stakeholders in government and other agencies,” explains Susil Perera, executive director of disaster management with the Sri Lanka Red Cross.
The week long BDRT training course focuses on three core areas: relief management, coordination and needs assessment. It also covers Red Cross history, tracing of family members, basic search and rescue, security, pyschosocial support training, emergency health and professional codes and standards for relief.
“We combine theory with practical simulations and field work sessions. We also invite members of the government’s disaster management centre to join the training,” explains Susil Perera. “We have already seen positive results in the levels of professionalism amongst our field staff. There is much better coordination with government counterparts and the standard of field reports has improved.”
Twenty-seven year old Nirumithan is project coordinator of the Danish Red Cross supported community based disaster management programme in Ampara. He took part in the first BDRT training in 2006 and has since participated in over 30 deployments of the Ampara BDRT.
“We’ve been involved in a variety of different relief actions,” he explains. “Right now we are responding to the floods but we have also helped people who have been displaced from their homes due to the conflict. Last September we were involved in the evacuation of people from coastal areas when the government issued a tsunami alert after an earthquake struck Indonesia.”
The decision to set up a BDRT is based on a district’s ‘risk profile.’ So far seven BDRTs have been formed in Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Monaragala, Hambantota, Nuwera Eliya and Ratnapura. The first BDRT was set up in Ampara district in June 2006 and the plan over the next year is to have teams operating out of 16 Red Cross branches across the country. Sponsors of the programme include the International Federation, the British, Danish and Spanish Red Cross Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
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Members of a Sri Lanka Red Cross Branch Disaster Response Team during a training session. Since mid-2006, the Red Cross has been steadily building up a network of BDRTs across the country in an effort to improve the skills of staff and volunteers to manage emergency relief activities. (p16892)
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Red Cross Branch Disaster Response Team members prepare cooked meals for flood victims in Batticaloa district. (p17049)
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| Red Cross Branch Disaster Response Team members register displaced families for relief assistance in Ampara District. (p17050) |
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| A man carrying his belongings walks through a flooded road at Ampara, 350 km east of Colombo January 8, 2008. Widespread flooding across the north, east and central areas of Sri Lanka have affected hundreds of thousands of people since the onset of the north easterly monsoon in late 2007.
(RTX5CED - REUTERS/Stringer Sri Lanka) |
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