Preparing against flooding

                                                                                                                                 Dawit Miteku

The drought that has occurred at national level is the worst in the last 50 years. The government is doing all it can with all its capacity to prevent it. In a situation where ample foreign assistance was not gotten, the government has made huge effort to resist the drought by using its own internal capacity. And it is still doing that.

The worst of the damage has been lowered by reaching the affected areas using the structures of Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission that is at national level. And this has garnered international accolades for the government. As the issue concerns the whole country and people, wide ranging works have been carried out relentlessly to save the lives of citizens as much as possible and the lives of animals too. And the work is still going on – and result has been gained from it. The rain and flooding that came side by side to the drought is another issue that needs special attention. Heavy rainfall and flooding has caused huge damage in east Ethiopia. The lives of close to 40 citizens have been lost due to landslide and flooding that was caused as a result of the heavy rainfall brought in south Ethiopia.

Assuming that similar and even worse calamity can occur, huge wok is being done to mitigate flood vulnerability in a lasting manner on the side of the government. And by basing on the meteorology, the pre-disaster preparedness and prevention committee has taken the mandate and is doing the necessary measures that needs to be taken.

The technical committee of Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, which is comprised by members from various sector organizations, works as coordinator under the directives it gets from the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission. And at regional level, as the flooding is taken as a second threat next to drought, preparation work is being carried out on how to prevent it beforehand.

What El-Nino caused is the worst kind of drought. Various countries around the world have fallen victim to it. They have been hit by it. It is the worst drought compared to previous droughts that occurred in the country’s history. The firm commitment the government showed where there was no ample foreign assistance and the measures it took by using its own capability has enabled to lower the extent of the damage. As it is a problem that is facing the country and the people, we should combat it with all our might. The government has done all its might to make sure the drought doesn’t bring huge devastation. And it still is working on it. As drought is not man-made but natural occurrence, wide ranging works have been done to swiftly mitigate where it occurs by using the exiting governmental structure and new ones, and by also using the capacity that is found in the regions.

Capability that is enough to prevent the drought and flooding is being garnered as a result of the measures the government took. If the disaster occur, Flood risk warning system has been given to the relevant entities and regional bureaus to respond swiftly and bulk against the danger and to prevent harm.

This warning system is an alarm that notifies people living at flood vulnerable areas to prepare beforehand. Immediate Response Coordination Center under National Disaster Risk Management Commission is doing flood monitoring work.

At federal level, a flooding task-force has been established under the leadership of the government by involving sector organizations and nongovernmental organizations. The basic task of this organization is to prevent beforehand the flooding that may occur at various areas at national level. By providing the information and projection of national meteorology to every region, they can help them take precautions. As a result, the information were disseminated by the Media to the people. Messages has been disseminated that people at Awash basin area to take the necessary precaution.

As it can be recalled, the Awash have caused severe problems for various consecutive years by overflowing and and destroying farms, houses and roads. The natural disasters that occurred at various times are a show of the need of building huge capacity that is organized by manpower and equipment to prevent or swiftly respond when natural disasters such as flooding and landslide heavily occur in our country. Experience has been gained from it.

In regards to this, it is important to build an even stronger institutions at every structural level, and making them further strong and capable both in knowledge and skill. Its attention revolves around Pre- disaster prevention tasks both during and after a disaster hits. Starting work after the disaster already hit will be no good. It is important to be prepared beforehand a disaster strikes.

In order to solve the flooding problem around Awash River in a lasting manner, two dams are about to be built, and the research is getting completed. Watershed conservation and development works around the basin areas are being done on 836,675 sq m land so that water infrastructures at the basin area will not be filled up with silt.

Especially at this time, through the the monitoring work the government has done on the Awash River, areas that are vulnerable to flooding are identified and huge monitoring and supervision works are being done to protect the people and the development from flooding. The Water, Irrigation and Energy Ministry on its part is relaying swift preparations to the communities living on the Awash Nile valley and Omo Giqe basin areas by working along with River flow information center. Huge effort are exerted to stop flood from flowing in to the communities and institutions by strengthening basin dyke works in Awash basin and Omo Gibe valley and by regulating the amount of silt on the Rivers, and by clearing both sides of the river banks.

All this effort is being made to prevent beforehand heavy flooding side by side with the works put in to mitigate the drought. Not only it is impossible to assess the harm and disaster heavy overflowing and flooding might bring, but it is also impossible to fully stop the disaster except for lowering its impact as much as possible - as is a natural phenomenon.

Repeated flooding have occurred and have brought huge devastation both in human lives and property damage in various world countries like in Japan, India, China and Europe. They couldn’t fully handle the phenomenon with all their technological advancement – and they can’t. Landslide, overflowing of rivers and oceans brings huge destruction in a country by destroying bridges, roads, basic development infrastructures while it also takes human lives.

The other disaster is sudden storms, and its destructive power is very huge. And we should ask ourselves what kind of preparation we have if such thing is to happen in our country. Although technology gives indication how and when natural disasters occur, we have seen disasters occurring unexpected and unannounced on various occasions.

So, mankind has not been able to fully control nature with the level of development it is currently at. And it can't. The preparation work done by the government to prevent flooding beforehand should be encouraged. And it needs more preparation. And this task is not something to be shouldered by the government alone, but the public should play its part as well. And the regions should be working even more interrogatively than they are currently doing to prevent flooding that is predicted to occur. They should play their own contribution.

Most of the threat zone of the flooding is found in regional areas. And regarding Addis Ababa, as the city is situated within mountains, it is important to give attention on preparing on what the response should be in the event of flooding. Water drainage canals should be cleared clean in some instances, while new ones should be drilled as they help in lowering the threat of flooding to some extent.

The government is doing huge works to prevent and mitigate the drought and the flooding that may occur following heavy rainfall. In addition to mitigating the drought, huge awareness raising works are being done within the public in order to prevent the huge devastation the rain and flooding might cause. And the Media should play a huge role in this. Meteorological prediction should be relayed to the public through various Media outlets. The government is working on the issue with full attention. Educating farmers on how they can conserve the overflowing water and use it for irrigation works through experts is a task that has been given priority.

It not only is possible to stop erosion by building terraces and by drilling many holes at elevated lands (like mountains), but it is also helps in making the area green through forest and other vegetation as it conserves humidity. It lessens vulnerability to drought and desertification. It also prevents flooding.

Although the rehabilitation work that has been done on degraded lands will not be useful for today, it is believed that it will be a solution to prevent soil erosion and flooding in the coming years. In this regard, the government has been doing wide ranging works in previous years. And it has been successful. As the terrace work were done extensively in regions, it was possible to prevent soil erosion. And this wok should be continued strongly.