Each year, Governments and national institutions and relief agencies are called in to respond to the disasters as a result of the heavy rains.While inspecting the extent of the disaster andproviding relief items to the victims of the flood disasters, we often hear promises of how the following year government will make resources available to prevent flood disasters through desilting, removing unlawful structures, increase public education on sanitation, effective waste management provision of drainage infrastructure, establishing early warning systems, increasing response capabilities and ensuring adequate budget provisions for relief and humanitarian response.
The rainfall season this year is going to be very critical as we will be confronted with the challenge of responding to the COVID 19 pandemic as well as flood disasters across the country.
While contemplating about a dual emerging natural disaster of COVID 19 and flood disasters, we need to have preparedness and response programmes in place now for the floods which reflects the reality of the spread of the corona virus.
Elements of the plan must include education and awareness raising on early warning, moving persons from potential flood prone areas to higher grounds, desilting choked drainage, road signs identifying uncovered potholes, negotiating with the Burkina Faso authorities of a phased opening of the spill ways of the dam, avoiding activities around river beds, and the meteorological department must be seen to be proactive on weather forecasts.Government must by necessity allocate adequate budget resources for the preparedness and response plan.
While government and other national institutions are to be held accountable, we as a people must equally take responsibility for activities that choke the drainage systems, unlawful building on water ways, farming in flood prone areas, and not adhering to early warning and weather advisory notes.We must begin to take seriously the reality of climate change which has changed the rainfall pattern in West Africa.
