What role do citizens have in disaster management?

Disasters have no particular face; they just wreak havoc. In their wake are masses of distraught people. Anyone can be a victim, just like anyone can do a thing or two to combat disaster incidents.However, some residents still believe their role in mitigating the effects of disasters is limited by lack of sufficient financial capacity although they admit that their participation is crucial. So, just how much can you help?ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS AGO, a terrible, unexpected misfortune struck Kanaba Village in Ruhango District, leaving dozens of residents homeless and hapless. Many more others were left with fear that they might lose their lives or that their property might also be washed away under the same circumstances.It was on April 20, at around 7am when landslides washed away hectares of land taking along residents’ property, including homes, shops, crops as well as infrastructure such as roads, among others.Luckily, no life was lost in the disaster, mainly thanks to its timing; it struck at the moment when most residents were already up or had left their homes for work, mostly in their fields.The incident is fresh in the memories of the residents as if it just occurred yesterday.“It started slowly and within seconds everything was moving down to the valley,” recalls Thomas Habanabakize, whose house sits just dozens of metres from where the massive landslide started from.Habanabakize, who emphasises the fact that he witnessed the incident from its beginning, describes the event as “the most terrible thing I have ever witnessed” in life.“It was like the end of the world had arrived,” he says. “Everyone was running to save their lives. It was extremely terrible and frightening.”“Everything was washed away: houses, shops, crops, roads, mill, etc,” he adds.Disasters like the occurrence in Kanaba in the rural Kinazi Sector are becoming common in the country, at least, if recent incidents and statistics are anything to go by.Available figures indicate that 105 people died while another 123 sustained injuries as a result of various disasters, mainly floods, mudslides or landslides, lightning, winds, fire and heavy rains since January. Property worth billions of francs has also been destroyed in the calamities, including over 2,100 hectares of land and over 3,900 houses which were either destroyed or damaged.Public awarenessOfficials say with such a situation, it is becoming more evident that the country is becoming more vulnerable to a number of natural and manmade hazards. The north-western and eastern parts of the country are the most vulnerable, according to officials.Yet, some residents still believe their role in mitigating the effects of disasters is being limited by lack of sufficient financial capacity although they admit that their participation is crucial.Damascene Ntakirutimana, a resident of Kabuye Cell in Maraba Sector, Huye District, says he is aware that there are lots of actions that one can undertake to reduce vulnerability to disasters such as floods, storms and landslides.He cites terracing to counter erosion, building rainwater harvesting holes and water canals, building stronger houses and fixing their roofs with solid materials, tree planting as well as relocating from risk areas, among others, as some of the actions that could minimise the effects of disasters.“However, some of these interventions remain very expensive that not all residents can afford them,” Ntakirutimana says, citing relocation from high-risk zones as an example.Ntakirutimana says residents ought to keep doing even “the little they can afford” as a way of contributing to limiting effects of disasters.Latifa Ndindabandi, who lives on the edge of Mwogo marshland, says commitment and action could help mitigate the effects of disasters.The farmer, who has lost crops due to flooding in the past, says proper management of rain waters could help curtail such losses in the future.“As residents, we have a great role to play to mitigate the effects of disasters,” the mother of three says.“Proper management of rain water, for instance, could limit damages that could result in irresponsible treatment of such waters.”However, Ndindabandi says, some individuals within the community still ignore their role in reducing risks related to disasters, something she attributes to ignorance and the lack of information on what they could do.“There is need for continued education on how we can avoid increasing our vulnerability to disasters and what best practices we could adopt towards that end,” Ndindabandi saysBuilding resilient communitiesThe effects of disasters on development are ruinous: they damage infrastructure, reduce productivity and generate social tensions; they consume resources that could be better used for development and confine vulnerable communities to cycles of disaster and response.Leaders from around the world believe that investing in risk reduction could save much more than investing in disaster response and recovery and that building resilient communities could help curtail the effects of the calamities on the economies of their countries.Disaster risk reduction involves minimising the impact of natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides and floods on disaster-prone communities by doing everything possible before disaster occurs to protect lives, limit damages and strengthen their capacity to bounce back quickly from adversity.Jean Baptiste Nsengiyumva, the director of research and public awareness at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (Midimar), says measures to build resilient communities have been put in place.Efforts have been undertaken to educate members of the public on how they could contribute to minimising the effects of natural hazards, he said.Nsengiyumva says public sensitisation campaigns, education programmes through media as well as training on how to mitigate the impacts of disasters have been held with the overall aim of spreading messages on disaster risk reduction within the community.“Our efforts are geared towards the involvement of residents to make them part of the disaster management efforts,” Nsengiyumva says.He said documents detailing how to better avoid being affected by the disasters have been elaborated and distributed throughout the country, while disaster management committees, which educate members of the public, have been established at district and sector levels.Disaster Risk Reduction clubs have also been created in secondary schools to boost awareness and ensure schools safety.“As we continue with efforts to create more disaster awareness within the community, we believe involving several actors will contribute to making the efforts more successful,” Nsengiyumva says.Rutsiro mayor Gaspard Byukusenge said continued education programmes are making communities more resilient.Shared responsibilityFor Rusizi mayor Oscar Nzeyimana, whose district is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the country, compliance with existing guidelines would minimise people’s vulnerability to disasters.“Residents should continue to avoid living in high risk zones and whenever they are issued with a relocation notice, they should always be willing to cooperate because it is in their interest,” Nzeyimana advises.He says awareness programmes have proven successful as residents are showing willingness to minimise disaster-related damages in their areas.Out of 1,650 households that were identified as living in high-risk areas across Rusizi District, more than 1,200 have so far willingly relocated to safer areas, Nzeyimana says.Although natural disasters cannot be avoided, Midimar’s Nsengiyumva says their impacts can be mitigated, and calls upon residents to adopt best practices to contribute to reducing disaster effects.He urges residents to embrace strategies at their disposal and to always think of whether their actions do not increase their vulnerability to disasters.“Reducing disaster vulnerability and related risks is a shared responsibility,” Nsengiyumva says.“It is always important to make sure that our actions do not put our and others’ lives in danger,” he says.

National

What role do citizens have in disaster management?