DAKAR/NIAMEY, 13 June 2013 (IRIN) - West African and Sahel countries are setting up measures to minimize flood damage as the annual rainy season approaches. The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in a seasonal weather outlook says near-average or above-average rainfall is likely over the western Sahel, which stretches across Mauritania, Senegal and western and central Niger.
These regions are "expected to be the area with the highest risk of above average number of extreme precipitating events that may lead to flash floods".
Heavy rains in 2012 triggered extensive flooding in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal, with hundreds killed, millions left homeless and vast areas of farmland inundated. In many of these countries, the flooding was the worst in years.
Average or below average rainfall is likely in Lake Chad and central Chad regions as well as along the Guinean coast from Cameroon to Liberia, ACMAD said.
Allegra Baiocchi, head of the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in West Africa, at the annual meeting of the regional committee for disaster management last week, said globally 4.4 billion people have been affected by natural disasters over the past 20 years.
According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), direct losses from disasters have been underestimated by at least 50 percent. The cost to the global economy is in the region of US$2.5 trillion since the start of this century, said Baiocchi.
West Africa's urbanization and population growth trends indicate that more and more people are likely to be affected by floods in coming years, OCHA's West Africa disaster response adviser, Laurent Dufour, told IRIN.
At the meeting, representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to better harmonize their disaster response, find ways to collect better climate-related data and share it with those who need it - farmers and pastoralists - and to focus more on preparedness. "ECOWAS nations [must] work towards building regional drought, flood and epidemics early warning systems and search and rescue platforms that will enhance our cooperation," said Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) head, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi. An efficient, operational disaster platform should include actors from several different sectors, said Dufour, including government, civil society and the private sector.
The financial impact of last year's flooding in Nigeria was a "wake-up call" to governments, he said. "There's more attention this year as decision-makers have realized the human and financial costs involved."
Awareness-raising of at-risk communities is expanding, said Dufour, pointing to community-level efforts in southern Nigeria, Togo and Benin, but this needs to grow further. "There is a need to work with local level communities so they know what is at stake," he said.
IRIN spoke to disaster management officials and aid agencies about what they are doing to prepare for potential flooding this year.
Nigeria
Some 23 Nigerian states (out of 36) were affected by flooding last year, displacing 2.1 million people, killing 363, destroying almost 600,000 houses and creating "unprecedented" ecological damage, said Sani Sidi, as well as destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland.
We learnt a lot of lessons after last year's floods," said Ibrahim Farinloye, an information officer with NEMA. "There is need to invest in disaster prevention. The state and local government authorities are now showing commitment.
"Having realized what some states went through last year and with these predictions, the local authorities have started expansion of drainage, construction of new drainage, demolitions of structures that are blocking water ways. The traditional rulers are also now showing much more interest in flood preparation," Farinloye told IRIN.
He said NEMA has conducted public information campaigns, trained volunteers (including a unit of volunteers), and organized training on emergency responses such as first aid and the identification of high ground and other safe areas for evacuation. Teachers have also been urged to train pupils on how to stay safe during flooding.
"We have also signed memoranda of understanding with private companies to use their equipment during emergencies," he said.
Nigerian weather and hydrology experts in April forecast an increase in rainfall across the country this year compared to 2012. Nigeria Hydrology Services Agency has suggested lowering water levels on major reservoirs to accommodate the expected floodwater.
NEMA spokesman Ezekiel Manzo said they are advising state authorities to relocate people in flood-prone areas, particularly those living on the plains of the River Benue and River Niger.
"In all our eight offices across the country we have stockpiled basic household items, food, clothing and sanitary materials for women and children - not only for the floods but for any disasters," he said. They have also bought earth-moving equipment and they are doing a lot of awareness-raising of flood risks.
"The government must move very fast to enhance the awareness to prevent any disasters," he said.