Manual 1 - CFDP for Floods

ASIAASIA

Manual onCommunity and Family Disaster Preparedness for

Floods


FloodsIdeas That Can Make a Difference

The photo on the cover page shows a girl using a banana raft as a means of transport during floods in her village in Assam, India. Each year, flood waters submerge agricultural fields in this village and many houses become like isolated islands for many months in a year, Banana rafts are the main means of transport used by families for commuting to do their daily chores.

Ideas That Can Make a Difference


Floods


Floods

© Caritas Asia

All the photographs in this manual have been taken by the author and Caritas staff members of Caritas CFDP projects in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.

This manual can be downloaded, re-printed and translated into local languages provided explicit acknowledgement is given to Caritas Asia and the author of the manual.

First published in February 2011.

Printed by: The Indian Press Private Limited, Kolkata, India

Caritas Asia

Financed by

Caritas Germany

Sponsored by

Jude HenriquesAuthor

Copies available from:

Caritas Asia10th floor Phaholyothin Place Building,408/42 Phaholyothin Road,Phayathai,Bangkok 10400,ThailandTel: (662) 619 0634-5Fax: (662) 619 0639Email: [email protected]. caritasasia.org

Caritas Asia

Foreword 4

Acknowledgements 5

Introduction 6

Floods 16

Family and community preparedness activities 32

Protecting lives 35

Protecting houses 61

Protecting household items 70

Protecting valuable documents 75

Ensuring food security 79

Ensuring safe drinking water 91

Ensuring continuous communication 100

Protecting livestock 102

Protecting livelihoods 110

Protecting vulnerable groups 114

Challenges 123

Acronyms and abbreviations 124

Table of Contents

I.

II.

III.

IV.

Floods in South Asia and South East Asia are one of the major recurring disasters in these regions. Caritas has been regularly supporting relief and rehabilitation activities in the flood affected areas. Over the past few years, Caritas Internationalis along with Caritas Asia has realised the importance of disaster preparedness as a co-strategy related to disaster management. Accordingly, disaster preparedness is now one of the strategic priorities of Caritas. This shift has come about by a growing realisation that on account of global warming and climate change, there is likely to be an increase in water-related stresses. In addition, people living in hazard-prone areas need to take action to reduce their vulnerabilities and protect their lives, livelihoods and assets from being damaged by disasters.

In line with the adoption of this new priority, Caritas Asia has decided to bring out a series of manuals on key concepts and different hazards for practitioners to enable them to be better equipped in understanding and implementing disaster preparedness programmes. This manual on floods is part of this series.

I thank Mr Jude Henriques for conceiving and writing this manual on behalf of Caritas Asia. He has made great efforts to vividly portray the complex activities related to Community and Family Disaster Preparedness for Floods in an interesting manner that would greatly help practitioners quickly grasp the key concepts, define strategies and detail out activities relevant to their own situation.

A special thanks to Caritas India, Caritas Sri Lanka, Caritas Bangladesh and Caritas Cambodia for sharing their experiences. These have been portrayed in this manual. I urge different national Caritas and all their diocesan partners to seriously study and discuss this manual during their workshops on disaster preparedness. I am confident that this manual would greatly facilitate in building a strong CFDP programme for flood hazards in the different countries.

Bishop Yvon AmbroisePresidentCaritas Asia

10th Floor, Phaholyothin Place Building, 408/42 Phaholyothin Road, Phayathai,

Bangkok 10400 ThailandTel: (66 2) 619 0634-5

Fax: (662) 619 0639Email: [email protected]

Foreword

Foreword | 4

First and foremost, the author thanks Most Rev Dr. Yvon Ambroise, President, Caritas Asia, Bangkok and all the board members of Caritas Asia, for providing the author an opportunity to prepare these manuals as well as time-to-time guidance during the entire preparation. Sincere thanks also goes to Mr Nelson (former Coordinator) and Fr Bonnie Mendes, Coordinator, Caritas Asia, Bangkok, for their continual support throughout this period.

The author thanks Dr Reinhard Würkner, Head of Asia, Latin America Department, Caritas Germany, for the generous support in sponsoring these manuals. To Mr Peter Seidel and Dr Matthias Schmidt-Eule from Caritas Germany, a special thanks for their whole-hearted support and suggestions during the preparation of the manuals. A special thanks to Mr Karl Ammann, Disaster Management Consultant, Caritas Germany, Mr Gabriel Baroi, Programme Officer, Caritas Asia, Bangkok and Dr. Shayamal K. Saha, Consultant, for their valuable comments and suggestions during the workshop on editing of the manuals.

Coming closer to home, the author thanks the directors and staff of Caritas India, North Eastern Diocesan Social Forum, (NEDSF), Guwahati, India; Women Development Centre (WDC), Guwahati, India; Guwahati Gana Seva Society (GGSS), Guwahati, India; BAKDIL, Tura Meghalaya, India; Social Service Centre, (SSC) Shillong, Meghalaya, India and Jana Unnayan Samiti Tripura (JUST), Agartala, Tripura, India, who were involved in the implementation of the Community and Family Disaster Preparedness (CFDP) project under the guidance of the author. The author also thanks Caritas Sri Lanka, Caritas Cambodia and Caritas Bangladesh for the opportunities in better understanding disaster preparedness in their countries and incorporation of these experiences in the manuals.

The author thanks Mr P P Shrivastava, Hon'ble Member, North East Council, India, Mr Jayanta Madhav, Mr V Pipersenia, Principal Secretary, Mr Atul Chaturvedi, Chief Executive Officer, Assam State Disaster Management Authority, Mr T Sharma, Mrs Nandita Hazarika and other officials of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam, Mrs Aruna Rajoria, Deputy Commissioner, Morigaon, elected representatives and local officials of Kamrup Metro and Morigaon Districts, Assam, for their valuable support during the implementation of the CFDP project in Assam, India.

The author thanks Fr Pradeep Roy for his valuable suggestions, Mrs Pamela Kumar for typing the manuscript, Mr Lawrence Gomes for designing the layout and Mr Monojoy Banerjee from M/s Exact Reprographics for the logistic support.

Finally, the author gratefully acknowledges the valuable contributions of the numerous community members of the CFDP project villages who shared their experiences, ideas, struggles and hopes and allowed us into their homes to have a closer look and take photographs of their different coping practices. The author acknowledges the valuable insights gained when he initiated and led the disaster preparedness programme in West Bengal, India during his tenure with UNICEF.

Mr Jude Henriques

Acknowledgements

5

Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction | Introduction |

Chapter I

Introduction

Set of new topicsWith a view of strengthening the capacity of National Caritas in the South Asia and South-East Asia regions, a set of ten manuals on disaster preparedness has been prepared for Caritas Asia. The topics, as well as the structure and content of the manuals, have been carefully chosen by the author so as to fill in critical gaps for ensuring a well designed, strategically planned and successfully implemented disaster preparedness programme.

Before deciding on the content of the manuals, the author reviewed numerous manuals prepared by international agencies, experts and governments on disaster preparedness. In addition, reflections on his extensive experiences in initiating and implementing large scale successful Community and Family Disaster Preparedness (CFDP) projects and training large numbers of staff, government officials and elected representatives provided the author with valuable insights in identifying the leadership, training and implementation gaps. These gaps helped define the manuals and their structure.

The recent Community and Family Disaster Preparedness project in Assam, India, which was led by the author as the project manager, as well as the capacity building programmes in Caritas Sri Lanka, Caritas Bangladesh and Caritas Cambodia facilitated by the author, provided him valuable insights about successful family and community activities and practices, tested processes for increased community participation and ownership and effective strategies for building strong partnerships with government. These ideas, activities, processes and strategies formed the core content of the manuals.

The content and structure have been prepared with a view to simplify these manuals as well as to make them interesting and user friendly. Photographs of different CFDP activities and processes have been used extensively in the manuals to describe the wide range of complex activities as 'a photograph conveys a thousand words'. The photographs in all the ten manuals are from actual field situations of Caritas CFDP projects in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. These have been taken by the author and staff members of Caritas during field visits, workshops and project implementation.

The entire set of ten manuals focuses on the family as the main stakeholder of the programme. This is done very explicitly. Change of mind sets and behaviour of all family members in a community is fundamental for sustainability and ownership of the different activities relating to disaster preparedness. For these changes to happen and be internalized, families need to be involved in different processes and strategies. Empowerment of families and communities is critical for sustainability. This can only happen when vulnerable individuals and families are facilitated to analyse, assess and take action to better their situation, singly and jointly. This will ensure the creation of a culture of preparedness which encourages people at all levels to adopt safe behaviours and practices that can make a real difference in their lives.

Complements existing manualsThese manuals do not cover topics that are well described in other disaster management manuals, for example, how to conduct Participatory Learning and Action activities or formation and training of Task Groups and so on. These manuals do not repeat what is given in manuals produced by other organizations. These manuals complement existing manuals as they cover new topics.

Set of new topics

Complements existing manuals

The Choice of Manuals

7

What the manuals conveyThe ten manuals are neither per se typical training manuals nor training modules. They are not the typical 'how to do' manuals. However, each one of the manuals provides valuable inputs and guidance that could be used in regular training programmes as well as in planning, review and strategy meetings, workshops and during interactions with families, communities, elected representatives, government officials and civil society organizations.

These manuals are not meant to be blindly followed and implemented as a prescriptive direction for project activities. They are meant to stimulate thinking and critical reflection and a thorough understanding of the hazards and their characteristics in a particular country. They provide ideas for planners and implementers to think about and stimulate local thinking that lead to the development of specific set of activities and strategies that are relevant to the local area and to the specific hazards.

Mention may also be made that there are some overlaps between manuals and these cannot be fully avoided.

The ten manualsThese ten manuals on Community and Family Disaster Preparedness (CFDP) have been broadly grouped as follows:

CFDP hazard related manuals

CFDP for FloodsCFDP for CyclonesCFDP for Landslides

The three hazard-related manuals on CFDP for floods, cyclones and landslides provide the field functionaries details of the type and characteristics of these particular hazards as well as outline the wide range of activities that are appropriate for that particular hazard. These lay out a wide menu of ideas that could be included in the programme of disaster preparedness for that particular hazard.

What the manuals convey

The ten manuals

CFDP hazard related manuals

The Choice of Manuals

8Introduction |

CFDP process manuals

Key Concepts related to CFDPHazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment for CFDPKey Processes for Community ownership in CFDPBehaviour Change Communication for CFDPPlan of Action for CFDP

The above five manuals cover important concepts and processes that are critical to the success of a CFDP programme. The manual on Key Concepts elaborates the different terms and concepts as well as their relationship to each other. The manual on Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment provides guidance in planning and completing a comprehensive needs assessment for a CFDP programme. The manuals on processes, behaviour change communication and plan of action provide valuable guidance to field functionaries for eliciting increased community participation and ownership of CFDP.

CFDP strategy manuals

Building a Successful CFDP ProgrammePartnerships for Scaling up CFDP

The two strategy manuals provide critical insights and reflections for enabling project managers and leaders to take appropriate timely decisions in designing and implementing successful disaster preparedness programmes as well as strategies for ensuring sustainability and scaling up CFDP.

In all these ten manuals the name Community and Family Disaster Preparedness (CFDP) has been used to emphasise the importance of the family as the main focus of programme intervention.

CFDP process manuals

CFDP strategy manuals

The Ten Manuals

9

Field level staff

The appropriate hazard manuals are for regular use by the field level staff for their understanding of different possible activities, for interactions with families and communities as well as with village government level functionaries and influential persons. These manuals provide a very good basis for engagement with families on a wide range of issues related to a particular hazard. In addition to the three hazard manuals, the manuals on processes and concepts are very important to enable the project staff understand the activities and processes involved. They provide valuable insights and guidance in enabling the project staff to plan and execute complex processes and activities.

Project Coordinator and Managers

In addition to all the above manuals, the manuals on strategies are very important as these provide the direction as well as the strategies for ensuring the success of the programme as well as its sustainability and scaling up. These two manuals need to be carefully read, discussed and understood by the project management team. This should be done at the start of the programme or even better, prior to the start of the programme as it would guide the implementation of different activities.

Directors, Government officials and Donors

The three hazard manuals and the two strategy manuals are of importance to the directors, different government functionaries and donors as these key decision makers would not be interested in the minute details and processes of the project. They would be keen on planning of strategies for ensuring a successful CFDP programme as well as for identifying ideas and activities that could be scaled up.

INGOs and national NGOs

The entire set of 10 manuals is applicable to all INGOs and NGOs and they would benefit in better planning and implementation of successful disaster preparedness programmes.

CBOs and small NGOs

The appropriate manuals on hazards would apply more and benefit Community Based Organizations and NGOs.

Field level staff

Project Coordinator and Managers

Directors, Government officials and Donors

INGOs and national NGOs

CBOs and small NGOs

Manual Usage

10Introduction |

Using the manuals

Before beginning any disaster preparedness project, the project management team may organize a workshop to familiarize themselves with each of the 10 manuals so that they arrive at a common understanding of the concepts, activities, processes and strategies of a CFDP programme. The overview of the ten manuals will provide the team with valuable insights in planning and designing a CFDP programme.

Preparing the proposal and preparatory activities

The manual on key concepts lays the conceptual framework for the CFDP programme where the key concepts are explained in detail along with the theoretical model underlying the importance of the CFDP programme and the linkages between the key concepts of hazards, disasters, capacity and vulnerability.

The Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment or the needs assessment manual provides the structure for the analysis of the characteristics of the hazard in a particular situation or country. Understanding the characteristics of the hazard is very important in formulating a CFDP programme. It sets the framework for formulating the results, objectives and the type of activities that are relevant and critical for reducing the vulnerabilities of families and communities for a particular hazard in a specific situation. It also provides an example of how a hazard, vulnerability and capacity assessment could be prepared, documented and presented.

The CFDP hazard manuals are basically indicative ideas for a wide range of activities for a CFDP programme. They provide a broad content for the programme as to what type of activities can be done to reduce the vulnerability of a particular hazard. They provide technical details as well as a range of ideas about three main hazards floods, cyclones and landslides which would enable the planners and implementers to design and implement an effective CFDP project.

Using the manuals

Preparing the proposal and preparatory activities

Using the Manuals

11

Using the Manuals

Starting implementation

When starting the implementation, strategic decisions need to be made by the project team leaders on the choice of activities which are to be accorded priority. For this, the two manuals on strategy are of critical importance as they provide insights on the activities and processes that need to be initiated at the start of a project. More importantly, the critical perceptions of the community are formed about the project and the agency at this early stage of the programme. Hence, it is important that the community gets a correct perception of the agency and the programme activities at the commencement of the programme.

Simultaneously, the manuals on processes are also very important as these help build the initial links for community ownership of the programme. To support these processes, the inputs from the hazard manuals may be useful in the preparation of key Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials that would facilitate good community interactions in the initial stages of the project. Inputs may also be used from the assessment report that would have been prepared as well from the pilot project.

Starting implementation

12Introduction |

Suggestions

An orientation workshop needs to be organized for the key project management

staff members who are to be involved in the design and preparation of the project

proposal as well as in the design and implementation of a pilot project. For this,

relevant inputs may be taken from the appropriate manuals.

A small pilot project may be implemented to provide critical learnings on key

activities, processes and strategies of a CFDP project. This pilot project would

consist of a hazard, vulnerability and capacity assessment along with identifying

and implementing relevant activities related to the identified hazard. Local and

indigenous ideas would also be identified and tested during this phase. These

learnings would be very useful in the design and preparation of a good project

proposal.

Throughout the implementation of the project

All the ten manuals need to be referred to periodically during the entire implementation phase of the project. The team leaders and key project staff need to refer to the strategy manuals on building a successful CFDP project and partnerships with the government for deciding the sequence of activities as well as for creating and seizing opportunities for building and strengthening partnerships for scaling up and for sustainability of the project activities.

The appropriate hazard manual along with the needs assessment will continue to be used in guiding the activities. In addition, the manuals on processes, behaviour change communication and plan of action will need to be introduced at the appropriate stages of implementation. These manuals are important for building the capacity of staff members with regard to the processes of CFDP activities, methods of interaction with families and communities and preparation of action plans that are critical to the acceptance of the project leading ultimately to the empowerment of families and communities. They are also useful in the design and use of good interactive Information, Education and Communication materials which are important for all the methods of behaviour change.

Throughout the implementation of the project

Suggestions:

An orientation workshop for all the staff members (including the village

volunteers or social mobilisers) needs to be organized at the start of the

project. For this, relevant inputs may be taken from the manuals on Key

Concepts, Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment, and the

appropriate hazard manual.

In addition, inputs may be taken from the process manuals regarding the

processes on how to organize different activities. Based on the priorities of

the activities selected for implementation at the start of the project, the

inputs may be used from the manual on processes for building of staff

capacity for effective implementation of activities.

An orientation on the overall concept of behavior change would be a

valuable input in building the capacity of the staff, especially the field level

staff. Inputs for this could be taken from the manual on behavior change

communication.

Using the Manuals

13

These manuals may be translated into local languages with necessary local adaptations, use of local photographs and materials so that they are better understood and the staff members can then make optimal use of these manuals in their work. Sharing the same with local government officials, elected leaders and civil society organizations can further build partnerships, strengthen linkages as well as serve as good advocacy materials for bringing about desired policy changes and support for effective programme implementation.

Using the Manuals

14Introduction |

Suggestions: Regular capacity building workshops need to be organized for all staff members (including the village volunteers or social mobilisers). Each of the workshops needs to focus on one thematic area such as:

Key concepts of CFDP,Undertaking a Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment,Details of processes in implementation of CFDP activities,Behavior change communication, Interpersonal communication,Community dialogue,Social mobilization,Developing IEC materials,Building linkages with local government officials,Preparation of plans of action,Linkages between plans of action and regular development programmes.

For these workshops, relevant inputs may be taken from the different manuals. These workshops could also be combined with review of progress and planning of future activities.

Detailed minutes and process recordings need to be maintained for each of the workshops and circulated to the staff so that they can refer to them from time to time.

Manuals for different hazardsManuals for different hazards

CFDP for Floods

CFDP for Cyclones

CFDP for Landslides

Manuals on Concepts and ProcessesManuals on Concepts and Processes

Key Concepts related to CFDP

Plans of Action for CFDP

Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment for CFDP (Needs Assessment)

Key Processes for Community Ownership of CFDP

Behaviour Change Communicationfor CFDP

Manuals of StrategiesManuals of Strategies

Building a Successful CFDP project

Partnerships for Scaling up CFDP

This manual on Community and Family Disaster Preparedness for Floods is one of the three CFDP manuals for hazards. It focuses on Community and Family Disaster Preparedness activities for floods and is to be used in those areas which are affected by floods. This manual is to be used along with the five manuals related to concepts and processes as well as the two strategy manuals.

Using the Manuals

15

Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods | Floods |

Chapter II

Floods

Floods are among the most frequently occurring hazards in the South Asia and South- East Asia regions and cause severe human hardships and economic loss.

A simple definition of floods is “the overflow of water into areas that are not normally submerged with water”. A flood is a situation in which water temporarily covers land where it should normally be dry. This water may come from rain, sea, lakes, rivers or canals.

“the overflow of water into areas that are not normally submerged with water”.

Floods

The project management team needs to be aware that flooding is not the same in all parts of South Asian and South-East Asian regions. There are different types of floods with their own unique characteristics which cause different types of problems for the affected population. This understanding is critical for any relevant and meaningful disaster preparedness activities in flood affected areas.

During a sensitization programme for staff, the facilitator may explain the definition of floods, the causes and benefits of flooding and the different types of flooding in general.

The facilitator may discuss with the staff members the problems and benefits of flooding in the local specific villages and jointly assess the type of flooding occurring in those particular villages and the implications.

At the end, the facilitator may summarize the different types of flooding and the problems associated with each type of flood.

Flooding occurs most commonly from heavy rainfall when natural watercourses do not have the capacity to convey excess water. However, floods are not always caused by heavy rainfall. They can result from other phenomena, particularly in coastal areas where inundation can be caused by a storm surge associated with a tropical cyclone, a tsunami or a high tide coinciding with higher than normal river levels. Dam failure, triggered for example by an earthquake, will result in flooding of the downstream area, even in dry weather conditions.

17

It does not have to be raining in a particular area for a flood to occur in that area. Some of the most devastating floods originate many thousands of kilometres away.

Factors affecting flooding

Most flooding occurs when the volume of water in a river or stream exceeds the capacity of the channel. Flooding also takes place along lake and coastal shorelines, when higher than normal water levels inundate low-lying areas. Numerous factors affect the overflowing of a river:

The amount and type of precipitation, The nature and condition of the drainage basin, Climate (its important influence on the relationship between precipitation and runoff), The shape, size, soil type, and topography of the drainage basin,Vegetation cover, Season, Previous rainfall,Reforestation and re-vegetation (affects the rate at which surface water flows to the main channel may be slowed down, and hence the runoff is spread over a longer period),Basins with many natural storage areas, such as lakes and wetlands, and even those with artificially created storage.

Factors affecting flooding

Floods

18Floods |

Flooding may occur for a variety of reasons:

It is the result of too much rain falling in an area which cannot be drained out as fast as it falls through normal seepage into the ground, or drained away through canals or pumped out. Here, rain is the source of the flood and not water coming from a river, but water on its way to the river or sea or lake. The heavy rains may be the result of thunderstorms, cloud bursts, tropical cyclones, hurricanes etc.

It most commonly occurs when large amounts of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, overflow or break through its bounds. Because of excess precipitations upstream, rapid melting of snow/ice, and so on, the rivers swell and cause widespread damage to areas down-stream as the waters overflow and spill onto the land.

When ice or the debris of a landslide temporarily block the course of the river channel creating a reservoir upstream. Then as the pressure builds up, these temporary dams burst causing severe flooding downstream.

Coastal flooding is caused by huge sea waves that surge onto the land and flood coastal areas. These sea waves may be caused by cyclones, strong winds, and tsunamis arising out of volcanoes, landslides, earthquakes, or explosions in the sea.

Bursting or overflow of dams or levees or embankments.

Flooding may occur for a variety of reasons:

Beneficial effects of flooding

Flooding is often perceived as causing havoc and destruction. Yet flooding is an essential part for the survival of people. Flooding can have both positive and negative impacts. Following are some of the beneficial or positive impacts of flooding:

Flooding brings welcome relief to people and ecosystems suffering from prolonged drought. Periodic flooding causes water to overflow the banks and deposit silt or nutrient-rich sediments onto the floodplain where they nourish the trees of the floodplain or increase the productivity of the crop. The timing of flooding also influences the use of the swamps by fish and wildlife, especially for spawning and waterfowl migrations.In some South Asian and South-East Asian countries, flooding is beneficial to the farming system because it brings water and nutrients to regenerate soil fertility, replenish groundwater, and rejuvenate wetlands forming the natural breeding grounds of diverse aquatic plants and fish. In these countries the livelihoods of boat habitat people, fisher folk, jute processors, and many others who own little or no land are directly related to this annual cycle of flooding.

Beneficial effects of flooding

Floods

19

Riverine flooding Varied duration from

a few days to 5-6 months and from small areas to very

large areas stretching for miles

Riverine flooding Urban flooding Caused by heavy

rainfall, cloud burst, blockage of drainage systems and lasts for

a few hours/days.

Urban flooding

Flash floodsWater flowing down

from hilly areas carries debris and

moves at high speeds and lasts for a

few hours

Flash floods

Coastal floodingDue to cyclones, sea water inundates low

lying areas

Coastal flooding

Types of floodingTypes of flooding

Types of floodingTypes of flooding

Floods

20Floods |

Flooding is of different types and has different consequences based on local geological and other factors and these have differential impacts on the local community. Following are some types of flooding that are prevalent in South Asia and South East Asia:.

Riverine Flooding

Flooding along rivers is a natural event and an inevitable part of life. Water from a river or channel overflows onto the surrounding floodplains largely because of the rapid increase in the volume of water within this river or channel. This type of flooding is what normally most people associate with the term “flooding.” It is also the most common type of flooding which continuously occurs in different parts of the world. This type of flooding occurs seasonally either during winter or spring rains. Sometimes rapid melting of snow in the higher reaches combined with spring or summer rains, fills the river basins with too much water, too quickly. Some riverine flooding is caused by precipitation over large catchment areas. Torrential rains from hurricanes or tropical cyclones can also produce river flooding. Water fills river basins too quickly, and the river overflows its banks. Often the land around a river will be covered by water for many kilometres around. This type of flooding normally builds up slowly and may continue for days or weeks or even months.

With large rivers the process is relatively slow. The rain water enters the river in many ways. Some rain falls into the river directly and this has generally little effect. A lot of rain water will run off the surface when the soil is saturated or hard. It will flow to small rivulets that flow to larger tributaries and these tributaries then flow into larger rivers. In this way all the rain that falls in a large catchment area comes together into this one very large river.

When there is a lot of rain over a long period, the water levels in the river will then start to rise. The timing and rise in levels of water can be predicted much in advance and with considerable accuracy, as the levels of waters in these rivers slowly rise to dangerous levels. This gives enough time for issuing early warning. In very small basins, flooding may be more difficult to predict to provide useful warning time. Generally, the smaller the drainage basin, the more difficult it is to forecast the flood.

Riverine floodplains range from narrow, confined channels (as in steep river valleys in hilly and mountainous areas) to wide, flat areas. In the steep narrow valleys, flooding usually occurs quickly and is of short duration, but is likely to be rapid and deep. In relatively flat floodplains, areas may remain inundated for days or even weeks or months.

Riverine Flooding

Short duration flooding

In some parts of South Asia and South-East Asia, flooding covers large stretches of land for days or weeks. This water logging is due to overflow of banks, release of water from dams or heavy rains and so on.

Short duration flooding

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People wading through flood waters

Some of the major problems that people face are as follows:

Loss of lives and injuries,Houses damaged or destroyed, Household documents damaged or destroyed or lost,Household items damaged or destroyed,Problems of staying or sleeping (when water enters their houses),Children missing or lost,Crops lost or damaged,Livestock affected or killed,Non-availability of fodder,Families without food for many days,Inadequate safe drinking water,Regular transport not available,Problems of cooking no dry space available for cooking,Problems related to delivery of pregnant women,Vulnerable groups face many problems.

Floods

22Floods |

Long duration flooding

In some parts of South Asia and South-East Asia, water logging lasts for 3-5 months in a year and this happens year after year, covering large stretches of agricultural land. For instance, in some parts of India, Bangladesh and southern parts of Cambodia, water logging persists for a period of 3-5 months.

Long duration flooding

The major problems faced by people on account of these types of floods are as follows:

Only very few houses are damaged as many of them are built on individual 'islands' or raised land or on stilts. However, many of the houses are extremely vulnerable. Water enters into these houses only in case of very severe floods.

Loss of the main agricultural season as crops are not sown during this important period as agricultural land is flooded for 3-5 months every year.

Safe drinking water is a major problem.

Regular transport is not easily available.

Families have to manage with whatever food they can grow and stockpile during one season only.

Problems of staying or sleeping (when water enters their houses).

Documents damaged or lost.

Problems for keeping livestock and fodder as houses are surrounded by water.

Floods in Kandal province, Cambodia October 2008

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Floods in Mayong Block, Morigaon district, Assam, India - July 2010

Floods in Dharmapasa Upazila, Bangladesh July - 2010

Floods

24Floods |

Urban flooding

Rain water falling in an area is normally stored in the ground, in canals or lakes, or is drained away, or pumped out. In urban areas, flooding occurs largely because of the inadequate capacity of the drainage system to drain away the excess amounts of rain water. In addition, the changes in the land-use such as reduction or filling up of open fields, wetlands, floodplains etc., have reduced the availability of space to store the excess rain water. The continuous increase in paved surfaces further reduces the absorption of rain water in the soil by one-sixth. The uniqueness of urban flooding is that the source of the flood is not water coming or overflowing from a river, but water on its way to the river, lake or sea.

In many cities across Asia, parts of urban areas get inundated for a few days on account of a combination of factors such as heavy downpours or a cloud burst, clogging of drains, encroachment on canals and filling up of water bodies, rain coinciding with high tides and so on.

Urban flooding

Causes of urban flooding:

Drainage systems in most urban areas have been constructed many decades ago and built according to the requirements at that point in time.

Most of the drainage systems are poorly maintained and choked because of siltation and disposal of garbage.

Decrease in wet-lands and other natural flood plains with rapid construction and filling up of these natural absorbers.

Concretization of roads and footpaths as well as in areas surrounding the buildings with continuous reduction of open ground to absorb water runoff.

Construction of new roads and landscape that changes the slope for runoff waters to new directions resulting in areas that never earlier flooded are now getting inundated.

Inadequate river capacity to absorb the excess flow of rain water especially during high tide periods.

Encroachments and unauthorized settlers in flood prone areas and along embankments.

Solid waste disposal into rivers.

Increase in population in marginal areas and subsequent need for land.

Deforestation and improper land use.

Absence of scientific soil conservation practices.

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Some of the problems that people in water logged areas face are:

Houses damaged, Household items damaged or destroyed,Problems of staying or sleeping (when water enters their houses),Documents damaged or lost, Families without food for some days,Problems of safe drinking water,Many cases of diarrhoea,Problems of transport,Problems of children attending school,Problems of people attending offices,Business affected,Problems of cooking - no dry space available for cooking,Problems related to vulnerable groups.

A common scene in urban areas when roads are inundated by flood waters and vehicles sometimes get stranded in these waters

Floods

26Floods |

Flash floods

Flash floods commonly result from rainfall of exceptional intensity and duration, and may occur within minutes or a few hours of such rainfall. A flash flood is a short-duration type of flood where the water rises and falls quite rapidly and flows at high speeds with little or no advance warning. Flash floods are normally caused by sudden excessive rainfall, failure of a dam or embankment or the thaw of an ice jam. Normally, flash floods happen in mountainous areas, where narrow and steep slopes cause the water to travel at high speeds especially after heavy rainfall.

In areas with steep slopes, the flash flood suddenly increases the water in a riverbed that earlier held very little or no water, to suddenly brim with fast flowing water. The rushing water erodes the soil, taking the silt along with the water. Flash floods are one of the main causes of river erosion.

Flash floods

Flash floods are mainly characterized by:

a rapid rise in the level of water,

sudden onset,

high speed or velocities of water,

large amounts of debris like rocks and trees,

relatively small area compared to other types of floods.

Because of the sudden onset and the high travelling speed of the water, flash floods can be very dangerous.

Major factors in flash flooding:

intensity of rainfall,

duration of rainfall,

steepness or gradient of the slope,

height of the mountains,

sudden failure of dam,

sudden breach in embankment or canal,

release of ice jams,

collapse of debris from landslides that created an artificial dam.

Flash floods are common occurrences in those countries which have or are located near hills or mountains and where the water rushes at high speed. Water remains for a maximum period of a few hours.

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Some of the problems that people face on account of flash floods are:

Vulnerable groups especially the poor face severe problems of losing their land which gets eroded and lost forever or when their land gets covered with layers of debris,

Houses damaged or destroyed forever without any scope for re-building the same,

Household items damaged or destroyed,

Problems of staying or sleeping (when there are heavy rains),

Documents damaged or lost,

Crops lost or damaged. In some cases because of excessive siltation, the agricultural land would be rendered useless.

Livestock affected or killed,

Infrastructure such as roads, communication, power lines, water pipes may get damaged.

The above photo shows a house in Telimura, West Tripura district, Tripura, India, that has been damaged because of river erosion

Flash floods also cause erosion of river banks. Because of the speed of the flood waters and the nature of the river banks, erosion of the bank may take place.

Floods

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Some of the problems that people face on account of river erosion are:

Houses damaged or destroyed forever without any scope for re-building the same.Agricultural land lost forever. They would have to buy new land or obtain alternative land from the Government to re-start again.Vulnerable groups especially the poor face severe problems of losing their land forever when their land gets eroded. They have severe problems of obtaining alternative land and are forced to take loans at very high rates of interest to buy alternative land.

The above photo shows the bank of a river in Kampong Thom province of Cambodia that has been damaged because of river erosion.

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Factors affecting coastal flooding:

The exact height of the storm surge and which coastal areas will be

flooded depends on many factors such as: The strength, intensity and speed of the hurricane or storm, The direction the storm or hurricane moves relative to the shoreline, The gradient of slope of the sea floor along the shore, The shape of the shoreline, The astronomical tide, The amount of natural buffers, such as barrier islands, coral reefs, and

coastal and other protective vegetation such as mangroves etc.,In case of tsunami, the intensity of the earthquake or landslide.

Coastal Flooding

Coastal flooding occurs when water from the sea is dumped on the land due to strong winds and other events such as tsunamis, landslides and so on. A more important cause that could permanently inundate large areas of coastlines is related to climate change and global warming.

Storm surge causes sea levels to rise for a relatively short period of time (typically four to eight hours, though some areas may take much longer to recede to their pre-storm levels).

Causes of coastal flooding:

Coastal flooding usually occurs as a result of severe storms, cyclones or hurricanes. These storms cause the ocean waves to intensify in the open ocean and the accompanying raging winds create huge waves that crash on the unprotected coastal areas. These are known as storm surges. The height of the waves of a storm surge ranges from a meter to more than ten meters.

Coastal flooding can also be produced by tsunamis which are high intensity waves produced by earthquakes, landslides or volcanic activity in the sea. The sea water can penetrate many kilometres inland.

Sometimes a flood starts when waves move inland on account of a breach/overflow in the coastal defence works like dunes, embankments and dykes.

Coastal Flooding

Causes of coastal flooding:

Floods

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Some of the problems that people face are as follows:

Houses damaged or destroyed,Household items damaged or destroyed,Documents damaged or lost, Problems of safe drinking water as many of the water sources not only get contaminated but also become saline and unfit for drinking,Crops lost or damaged as agricultural land becomes saline. They would have to buy new land or adopt alternative agricultural practices,Livestock affected or killed,Damages to the environment,Vulnerable groups especially the poor face severe problems.

The above photo shows sea water, after tidal surge on account of cyclone Aila, inundate and damage agricultural land in Patherpatima block of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India.

Flooding on account of sea surges

Cyclones and tidal waves cause flooding in places along the sea coast and in delta areas. On account of sea surges the sea water enters large stretches of land.

Flooding on account of sea surges

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Characteristics of floods

Floods have certain key characteristics that make them different from other hazards. It is these characteristics that play an important part in the design and implementation of any disaster preparedness programme.

Characteristics of floods

Riverine floods provide adequate response time (generally people get a few days or few hours if water is released from dams or prediction of heavy rains).Flash floods provide very little response time.

Onset / Response

Riverine and coastal flooding is generally predictable with information from meteorological department about rainfall in catchment areas and discharges from upstream dams.Flash floods and cloud bursts provide very little advance warning.

Predictability

All types of flooding are largely annual events generally occurring during specific months in specific areas.

Frequency / Seasonality

Riverine flooding affects very large areas covering large populations and may last for a few days to a few months.Flash floods affect small areas.

Scope / Duration of Impact

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Chapter III

Family and communitypreparedness activities

Families and communities have over centuries faced many and varied disasters and have survived. The earliest recorded experiences of communities surviving disasters such as floods and droughts are recorded in the Bible and in other religious and ancient texts.

Innovative and traditional coping practices

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Over the centuries families and communities have developed systems and practices to survive and tide over different disasters, especially floods. In the following pages many of the traditional systems and practices related to protection of houses, lives, cattle, preservation of food, availability of drinking water, protection from diseases, ensuring continuous communication and transport and so on are described in detail in the variety of situations related to floods. These systems helped protect their houses, livestock and household goods from being damaged or lost.

These coping mechanisms and innovative practices are vital components of social and economic development for the survival of any society and are prevalent in all stages of life to resource poor communities in dealing with difficult and challenging situations. In facing hazardous situations these mechanisms become more prominent and visible.

This chapter details out some of the major innovative and coping practices which have proved to be effective and useful to families and communities living in different flood situations in different South Asian and South-East Asian countries.

34Family and community preparedness activities |

The first task in disaster preparedness activities for floods is in identifying, understanding and assessing the wide range and variety of different coping mechanisms and practices relevant to that context and situation.

This section describes different innovative and coping practices for different types of flooding. These are grouped under the following heads:

Protecting lives,

Protecting houses,

Protecting household items,

Protecting documents,

Protecting livestock,

Ensuring safe drinking water,

Ensuring food security,

Protecting livelihoods,

Ensuring communication,

Protecting vulnerable groups.

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The main objective of any family and community level disaster preparedness programme is to reduce loss of life. As communities are the first responders in the event of any flood, their knowledge, skills and capacity, if properly enhanced, can truly save large numbers of lives.

As part of the hazard, vulnerability and capacity assessment, details would have been obtained, using different participatory and learning action tools, about the number and causes of lives lost due to floods in the project villages. Reflecting with the community, suggestions may be obtained from the community, on the possible activities that families and communities can do to reduce loss of life and missing persons. This section describes traditional and innovative ways in which families and communities can prepare themselves to reduce loss of life.

Loss of lives

Some of the causes for loss of lives are:Sudden flooding because of non-receipt of early warning in time, Not knowing how to swim,Not knowing how to prepare and use banana rafts, boats or any other local indigenous methods for floating,No protective or life-saving equipment being used during evacuation,Lack of first aid knowledge in saving those rescued from drowning,Lack of trained and equipped rescue teams, Lack of boats,Lack of adequate life saving trees for protecting people from drowning.

Missing persons

Young infants separated and parents cannot be traced in the absence of any identification tags,Young children not knowing their names, their parents' names and addresses.

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Community and Family level activities

Some suggestions for protecting lives:

Effective early warning system where all families receive accurate early warning messages in time,

Swimming competitions to encourage more and more people to acquire this skill,

Competitions and training programmes for families to learn how to prepare and use banana rafts, boats or any other local indigenous methods for floating,

Training programmes for communities to learn how to prepare life jackets from locally available materials,

Training community members or task force members on first aid especially after rescuing from drowning,

Training and equipping community members or task force members on rescue of drowning persons, helping people to move to safe areas, helping people cross flood water and so on.

Training community members in repairing boats and in making simple indigenous boats,

Identifying and encouraging communities to plant life saving trees for taking shelter.

For tracing missing persons

Encouraging parents to prepare simple water-proof identification tags for young infants and speech and hearing impaired persons,

Encouraging parents and local functionaries to ensure that all young children know their names, parents' names and full addresses.

Community and Family level activities

During a training programme, the facilitator:

Asks participants to provide details about the loss of lives of people in their villages and the causes for loss of lives.

Asks the participants to describe different coping practices and other innovative ways for reducing loss of life.

Shows some of the photographs from the manual and asks the participants to comment on the same and provide locally relevant ideas.

Asks the participants to prepare a comprehensive list of appropriate and relevant activities that would help reduce loss of lives in their village.

Discusses with the participants ways to implement these activities.

Note: Activities for protecting lives may differ from village to village based on the characteristics of floods in that village.

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Early warning

Dissemination of early warning to families

The main challenge faced by national and provincial officials is the timely and accurate communication of early warning to the communities that are likely to be affected by floods.

Here, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and other voluntary organisations can make a positive contribution. They may obtain the early warning information from government sources and other reliable sources including internet and mass media. Because of their linkages they can quickly disseminate the information to the areas likely to be affected. Mass media as well as modern technologies like mobiles, internet and so on, may be used to supplement the traditional methods of communication of early warning messages to the families. The local mobile operators may be involved in rapid dissemination of early warning messages to targeted areas as part of their social responsibility. Prior arrangements may be made with the operators regarding the content and dissemination of information.

The daily updates of weather information may also be accessed from the websites of the national and provincial governments and other sources.

Public address systems that are available with local government institutions as well as with NGOs, CBOs, religious institutions, and so on may also be utilised for making announcements on the flood situation from time to time.

The next challenge is convincing families to evacuate and move to safe locations. In taking decisions to evacuate to a shelter or safe place, families generally wait till the last minute and then start moving part by part to a safe place. Protection of their houses, grains, house-hold items and live-stock is a priority and hence the delay in evacuation. Sometimes, the male members come back to their house and stay in their flooded houses on raised wooden or bamboo platforms to guard their property. This consideration of protection of household items needs to be given attention by the administration when directing people to evacuate to safe places.

Innovative flood warning systems

With the advancement in science and technology, countries in the region may have established technical organisations using remote sensing technologies. They may be developing and using flood modelling programmes which provide precise early warning information. Linkages with such government departments would be helpful in providing effective and precise early flood warning information.

Dissemination of early warning to families

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People living in one of the villages in Cambodia expected a severe flood during 2009 because of certain traditional early warning signs:

The direction of the wind indicates the seriousness of the flood. This is a traditional method of forecasting the weather.

The year 2009 is the year of the cow they consider this to be a year of floods.

A traditional belief is that when the stars come out and face the north, there is going to be a flood. The people have seen this phenomenon and are now expecting a big flood.

People living in one of the villages in Cambodia expected a severe flood during 2009 because of certain traditional early warning signs:

Communities have their own traditional early warning signs which they have been using for generations. These traditional signs of early warning need to be understood, documented and supplemented with modern technology.

Traditional early warning


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Flash floods provide very little warning and the local people develop their own systems for providing early warning to them:

Installing a bell in the river for providing early warning. The bell rings when the speed of water in the river reaches a certain level and this provides valuable early warning (especially during the night) of a few hours for people to take necessary action.Marking and calibrating danger levels of local rivers to provide a system for early warning.Observing changes in the environment such as emergence of cracks on river banks. When cracks suddenly appear on the river bank, it is a very ominous warning sign as within a short span of time, this part of the river bank will collapse and go into the river i.e., erosion will take place immediately. On the appearance of these cracks, the people have to immediately move to a safe place.

Local innovations for community early warning systemLocal innovations for community early warning system

AB is a bamboo placed in the river where there is no turbulence and flood wave.AB is marked in meter scale. Say ‘1’ is normal level.‘5’ is the point indicating the level of land. >’5’ is the danger level (Marking of scale may be different as per people’s understanding)

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Cracks in the river bank indicating impending river erosion.

Community early warning system

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Encouraging all to learn swimming

The above photos show women and girls taking part in swimming competitions organised in their village.

Action: Reflect with the community the importance of swimming and the number of young and old, men, women and children and differently-abled who know swimming and who do not know swimming. Jointly with the community and swimming experts from the local area, organize swimming competitions in each of the villages to encourage all to learn swimming and understand its importance as a life-saving skill during floods. Youth who are good in swimming may be encouraged to be members of the Task Force on rescue.

Action:


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The above photographs show a woman and children using banana rafts for moving from one place to the other. Rafts made out of banana plants and other plants are important means of communication in many South Asian and South-East Asian countries. In areas which are water-logged for many months in a year, men, women and children are adept in using these banana rafts.

Action: Ascertain the local means of communication that people use in the area for day-to-day communication during floods. Action:

Encouraging use of banana rafts

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The above photographs show training programmes for making banana rafts.

Action: In those areas where banana rafts are used, organize training programmes to demonstrate the preparation of making banana rafts using local expertise. These training programmes are important for the younger generation as this knowledge and skill need to be sustained.

Action:

Making banana rafts


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The above photographs show women taking part in rowing competitions using banana rafts.

Action: Organize rowing competitions using banana rafts in different villages with special participation from women and youth. These competitions are a good way to encourage and popularise the use of banana rafts as an important local means of communication.

Action:

Banana raft competition

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There are many locally available modes of communication that people use during floods. For example, in some areas where flood water is stagnant, people use locally made 'tin boats' which are made from a single tin sheet. The above photos show families using locally made boats for commuting during floods.

Action: Identify different types of locally made boats which are used in the flood affected villages and identify local community persons who have the knowledge and skills to make these types of 'boats'.

Action:

Making and using local boats


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The above photos show community persons making local boats from tin sheets and learning how to use and navigate these locally made boats.

Action: Organize hands-on training for the local community on how to make, use and navigate these boats. Organise from time to time demonstrations and competitions to build the self-confidence of the local community, especially women and youth, in the use of these types of boats.

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The above photos show community persons repairing boats for use during floods.

Action: Encourage the community to identify and repair boats which have been damaged and not being used. If required, support the community in repairing these boats so that they can be used by the community, especially by those who do not have boats and who are not able to afford the hire charges.

Action:

Repairing boats


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The above photos show boat rowing competitions which are important to encourage skills in rowing boats as an important rescue skill during floods as well as identifying potential members for a rescue team.

Action: Organize rowing competitions in different villages with special participation from women and youth. These competitions are a good way to encourage and popularise the importance of acquiring skills for rowing boats which would be helpful to the community during floods.

Action:

Boat rowing competition

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The above photos show children using a motor boat and floating in aluminum vessels in the Mekong river in Cambodia. At a very young age, they master skills of surviving and living in floods. They acquire confidence in using boats as well as motor boats for their day-to-day activities and they are encouraged to move around independently.

Children acquiring survival skills


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The above photos show young children floating or being moved to safety in large metal, cement or earthen vessels. Young children acquire the skills to navigate and float in these types of vessels.

Action: Identify different local ways that people use for floating and support community members to encourage their children to acquire skills of floating using these traditional and other innovative methods.

Action:

Innovative floating methods

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The above photos show innovative ideas of people using banana rafts and bamboo or cane baskets for floating during floods.

Action: Identify different local ways that people use for floating and encourage and support community members to innovate and acquire skills of floating using these traditional and other methods.

Action:


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The above photos show people using rubber tubes to keep themselves afloat.

Action: Identify different local ways that people use for floating and support community members in acquiring skills of floating using these traditional and other innovative methods.

Action:

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The above photos show young girls and women rowing boats. This is an important survival skill which needs to be encouraged amongst communities living in flood affected areas.

Women acquiring survival skills


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In the top photo, community members are provided training on how to prepare life jackets for men, women and children from locally available materials (parachute cloth and thermocol). In the bottom photo women wear these locally prepared life jackets and test them in the water to show their effectiveness.

Action: Organize workshops in different villages where community members are trained in the preparation of life jackets made from locally available materials. Action:

Making life jackets locally

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The above photos show women being trained in using ropes to save themselves and others in the event of a flood.

Action: Organize training programmes in villages where community members, especially women, are trained to acquire skills such as tying knots and rope-climbing which are important for saving their own lives as well as rescuing others during time of floods.

Action:

Training on rescue


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The above two photos show demonstrations on rescue being conducted by India's National Disaster Response Force along with the CFDP project staff and village task force members in Assam, India.

Action: Support community in forming task forces for performing different functions related to disaster management. Organise training programmes for the different task forces.

Action:

Training on rescue

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The above photos show local trees and shrubs that play an important role in protecting peoples' lives, houses and providing them shelter during the time of floods.

Action: Together with the community, identify life-saving trees. Encourage the community to plant more of them in a planned way that would save their lives during a devastating flood.

Action:

Planting more life saving trees


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The top two photos show people planting banana and bamboo shoots which have varied uses in flood preparedness. The bottom photo shows a raised plinth level for growing banana trees and vegetables.

Action: Encourage the community to plant banana, bamboo and other trees which are useful for different disaster preparedness activities.Action:

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The top photo shows a small child at an un-barricaded door of a house and in danger of being drowned when the child quietly slips out of the house without the knowledge of its parents. The bottom photo shows the door is barricaded with bamboo to prevent the child from leaving the house on its own.

Action: Encourage each family having infants and small children to prepare such type of barricades at the entrances of their house.Action:

Barricades for doors


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The top photo shows a young child with a water-proof identification tag tied to its wrist. This tag will enable the identification of a missing child in the event of separation during floods. In the bottom photo, family members are taught how to prepare such identification tags using cloth, indelible ink, cello tape and string.

Action: Encourage families to prepare name tags for their infants as well as for the hearing and speech impaired persons.Action:

Identification tags for infants

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The above photos show children learning and saying their name and address.

Action: Encourage each and every child to learn his or her correct full name, name of their parents, house name or surname, full address including name of village, district or province etc. This may be done through fun games involving all children.

Action:

Children knowing their names


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The above photos show houses in Assam, India and Bangladesh which are surrounded by flood water for 5-6 months in a year. Families living in these areas raise the plinth level of their houses by 1 to 5 meters so that water does not enter their houses during floods. These houses become little islands for 5 to 6 months in a year.

Protecting houses

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The top photo shows the raised plinth level while the bottom photo shows the group working to raise the plinth level.

Action: In those flood affected areas where families raise the plinth level of their house, encourage all families to raise the plinth level of their houses to above the highest flood level as an important flood mitigation strategy. The community may be encouraged to form groups of 7-10 families where every family provides one person to work in the group. Every day the group works for one family. In case additional rounds are required for protecting their houses, encourage the groups to do additional rounds.

Action:

Raised plinth levels


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The above photos show houses constructed on stilts in flood affected areas. In parts of Cambodia and in Assam, India, where there is flooding for 4 to 5 months every year, people construct their houses on stilts which range from 2 to 5 meters. The stilts vary from being made of bamboo to concrete pillars. People have accepted this as a normal way of life.

Houses on stilts

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People start living in houses made on bamboo stilts (top photo). Over a period of time as their economic condition improves, they start constructing a new house next to their existing house. These new houses are made on concrete pillars. They do this in a phased manner (as seen in the bottom photo).


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In areas where water-logging is only for a few days or weeks, people make temporary shelters of bamboo which they use during the duration of floods as seen in the top photo. In some areas which get water-logged for a few days, people make temporary shelters out of bamboo just prior to the floods and dismantle them when the floods recede (see bottom photo). One or more families can stay in these shelters.

Action: As per the need of the area, organize training programmes for communities to learn how to make strong temporary shelters. Also encourage communities to stockpile bamboo for making these temporary shelters.

Action:

Temporary shelters

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The above photos show families living in floating villages in the river or lake In some parts of Cambodia. People make permanent floating houses and stay in these waters all the year around. During floods when there is considerable amount of water in these rivers, these houses continue to float, albeit at a higher level. Each family has their own house complete with modern amenities.

Floating houses / villages


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The above photos show community members planting Kamlilata, a variety of morning glory (Ipomoea carnea), along the banks of a river as a traditional way to reduce erosion.

Action: In those areas affected by erosion, together with the community identify local plants which could be useful to prevent erosion. Encourage the local community members to plant such type of plants along river banks affected by erosion.

Action:

Reducing erosion - planting morning glory

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The above photos show community members making bamboo barricades with sand bags as a traditional method to reduce the speed of waters and thereby minimise erosion and at the same time help in the accumulation of silt.

Action: In those areas affected by erosion, together with the community identify appropriate places and support the community in constructing bamboo barricades or other methods for minimizing erosion.

Action:

Reducing erosion - bamboo barricades


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The top photo shows the damage to a house due to erosion. The community initiated the planting of Kamlilata, a variety of morning glory (Ipomoea carnea) which helped to minimize erosion. In addition to this initiative, the community mobilized resources from the local government which provided support for construction and placing of concrete slabs. The bottom photo shows the same house with concrete slabs in position which has saved this house from being completely lost.

Action: In those areas affected by erosion, together with the community, mobilize support from the local government, for minimizing erosion. Action:

Reducing erosion - concrete slabs

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The above photos show families using traditional ways of hanging braided jute ropes to protect their household items.

Action: Together with the community, identify local practices that families use to protect their household items and accordingly scale these up to all families living in flood affected areas.

Action:

Protecting household items


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The above photos show training programmes being organised in villages where women are trained on how to make braided ropes by other women from the same area.

Action: Identify traditional practices for protecting their household items and accordingly organize training programmes for women. Action:

Making braided ropes

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The top photo depicts a raised bed hung by braided ropes. The lower photo shows the process of women raising the bed when water enters their house and remains there for a few days or weeks. During this time, some families use pulleys and ropes to raise their bed to keep their things as well as to sit or sleep on it.

Action: Together with the community, identify similar practices and train community members to adapt and use them.Action:

Raised bed


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The above photos show families making 'changs' or raised bamboo shelves or platforms which are kept in their house to protect household items from getting damaged by flood waters.

Action: Families in different countries have similar or different ways of protecting their household items. Together with communities, such practices may be identified and training programmes organized to train and encourage all families to adapt and use them.

Action:

Raised bamboo shelves

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The above photos show families have constructed and placed their household items on raised bamboo platforms in their houses to protect them from getting damaged by flood water. The family members sit and sleep on these raised wooden platforms when water enters their houses.

Action: Identify families whose houses get inundated by flood waters and encourage them to construct bamboo platforms or any such method for protecting their household items as well as for providing them a place to stay till the water recedes from their house.

Action:


Raised bamboo platforms

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During floods, the documents of some families get damaged or destroyed by flood waters. To replace these documents is a traumatic experience for families as obtaining duplicates of important residential documents and certificates is very complicated and time consuming.

There are simple ways by which families staying in flood affected areas can protect their valuable documents such as keeping their valuable documents in plastic packets or plastic sealable packets.

Important family documents:

Land documents,House documents,Ration or food card,Work or job card,Bank pass book,Self Help Group or Micro credit group savings book,Identity card or voter identity card,Caste or ethnic certificates,Medical reports and prescriptions.

Important documents related to children:

Birth certificates,School certificates,Mark sheets,Text books,Note books,Immunization card,Growth card or chart,Medical reports and prescriptions.

Protecting valuable documents

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The top photo shows a woman putting her valuable documents in a plastic packet. In the bottom photo, a family in Assam, India, shows the sealable plastic packets in which they have kept their valuable documents.

Action: Identify practices which families use to protect their valuable documents. Based on this finding, organize sensitization and demonstration programmes to encourage all families to adopt this practice.

Action:

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Valuable documents in sealable plastic packets


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The two photos show families in Cambodia keeping their valuable documents in a steel trunk which is then kept at a higher level to protect them from getting damaged due to flood water.

Action: Identify safe practices which families follow to protect their valuable documents. Based on this finding, organize sensitization and demonstration programmes to encourage all families to adopt this practice

Action:

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The top photo shows a demonstration on how children should put their books in plastic packets to protect them from being damaged by the flood water. In the lower photo a class of small children display their books safely kept in plastic packets.

Action: Identify safe practices which families follow for protecting the school books of their children. Based on this finding, organize sensitization and demonstration programmes to encourage all families to adopt these practices.

Action:

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Protecting books


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Food security is an important issue during floods. Each type of flood has its own food security concerns. Family and community preparedness requires a proper understanding of the food requirements and methods of food preservation.

Long term flood duration

In areas which are water logged for many months in a year, families would have to manage their food requirements by themselves. As these areas are not generally declared as flood disasters, relief is not generally provided.

Normally, families adopt different methods for preservation of a variety of foods ranging from vegetables to cereals to fish or meat. These are stored for use during the flood season.

The project staff members need to:

Interact with the community to identify the various local methods which families use for preservation of different types of food,Assess the situation whether all families have adequate food for surviving during the entire flood season,Identify and assess activities such as grain and seed banks, kitchen gardens, community gardens, alternative livelihoods like fishing and so on which would be suitable for strengthening food security.

Long term flood duration

Short duration floods

When families have to evacuate, for a short duration, in the event of a flood, the preparation of their own Family Survival Kit is important for them to tide over a period of a few days till relief reaches them. These kits are items which families put together for their own use during floods and not items provided by any agency.

Factors influencing the content of the family survival kit:The items and quantities vary from family to family. Each family may be encouraged to make a detailed assessment based on the factors mentioned below and accordingly prepare their Family Survival Kit:

Number of members in the family,Individual requirements of the different family members,Economic status of the family,Total number of days they anticipate they would have to manage by themselves till relief reaches them.

Short duration floods

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The practice of families preserving food for use during the flood season is an old tradition. Different communities utilise their own ways and methods of preserving various types of food which are stored for use during floods. The above photos show women drying food.

Action: These methods of food preservation need to be identified. All families and especially their younger generation need to be encouraged to adopt these methods. Action:

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Traditional methods of preservation


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Communities use different methods for preserving fish. In some areas they are dried and stored while in other areas salt and other preservatives are used. In some communities fish is dried, roasted and powdered and then stored in hollow bamboos with a special leaf which is kept on the top and then covered (as seen in the photos above).

Action: Find out the traditional methods of food preservation used by the community and encourage all families, especially the younger generation, to adopt these methods. Action:

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Using traditional baskets made from bamboo strips and lined with straw, rice grains are stored inside. These baskets are then plastered with cow dung and dried in the sun (see above photos).


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Fish (top photo) and different types of seeds (bottom photo) are dried and stored for use as food by families during floods.


Dried food

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Some vegetables like pumpkins (top photo) are dried and preserved for use during floods. Maize is another item that can be preserved for a long period of time (middle photo). Grain (bottom photo) is also stored.


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Dried vegetables

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Potatoes (top photo) can be preserved by families for a long time if they are kept on sand on the ground and the floor is moisture free. Families are encouraged to have their own kitchen garden to grow vegetables which can then be preserved for many months (bottom photo).


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Some families store their grain on raised platforms to prevent it from getting damaged by flood waters as seen in the top photo. In an increasing number of villages, communities construct grain and seed banks for storing and distributing grains and vegetable seeds as an important strategy for ensuring food security. Families take grain and vegetable seeds on credit and return the same with an additional amount after harvest.

Action: After assessing the local situation, communities may be encouraged to set up and manage their own grain and seed bank.Action:

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Community grain bank


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Communities have devised innovative ways of cooking their food when flood water enter their houses. They use mobile 'stoves' made out of tin sheets or clay which they keep at a higher level so that they can cook their food even when water enters their house. The top photo shows families in Cambodia using mobile stoves made of tin sheets. The bottom photo shows a woman in Assam, India, explaining how she uses a mobile stove made of clay to cook during floods.

Action: Identify local practices that families use to prepare their meals during floods. Organize training programmes for scaling up these ideas to all families.Action:

Mobile stoves

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For cooking their food, families use jute sticks which are dried in the sun. These sticks are then used as fuel (as seen in top photo). In other places, families stock pile fire wood which is dried and stored at higher places or hung from roofs (as seen in the bottom photo).

Action: Identify local practices that families use to prepare their fuel for cooking. Organize training programmes for scaling up these ideas to all families.Action:

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Stockpiling of fuel


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In some places, families use the dung of animals which are shaped into cakes (top photo) and dried or stuck onto jute sticks (bottom photo) which are dried in the sun. These sticks are then used as fuel.

Action: Identify local practices that families use to prepare their fuel for cooking. Organize training programmes for scaling up these ideas to all families.Action:

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Some of the items of the Family Survival Kit are:Food grainsChira (flat rice)SugarSaltDried vegetablesDried seedsKerosene / FirewoodCandlesMatchesMedicinesEtc

Action: Based on the local situation and need, assist each family in compiling a list of items which they would need to take with them when they evacuate to a safe place. Action:


Family survival kit

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Another major problem that people face during floods is the availability of safe drinking water. Flood waters contaminate the sources of drinking water where flood water enters ring wells or wells or submerge hand pumps. The photo given below is a common sight during floods.

The project management team needs to:

Assess the situation of drinking water in each of the project villages,

Ascertain from the community the number of tube wells or ring wells in the village,

Find out from the community how many of these were affected during the last major flood,

Jointly identify with the community the tube wells or ring wells whose water sources can be protected,

Ascertain the specific heights that each hand pump needs to be raised or the number of additional rings that need to be added to the existing ring wells.

Ascertain and ensure the access of all families in the village to the different identified hand pumps or ring wells that are planned to be protected.

Ensuring safe drinking water

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The girl in the top photo and the man in the bottom photo show the height of flood waters during the previous flood. Both the ring well and the tube well were submerged by the flood waters.


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Communities have raised their hand pumps to above the highest flood level by fixing an additional pipe with a mud platform (top photo) or a bamboo platform (bottom photo), to protect their water sources during floods.

Action: If the above are feasible, organize demonstration programmes and support the community in adopting these methods.Action:

Raised handpumps

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Communities have added additional rings to ring wells (top photo) or constructed ring wells on raised platforms (bottom photo) to protect flood water from entering these wells.

Action: If the above are feasible, organize demonstration programmes and support the community in adopting these methods.Action:


Additional rings added to ring wells

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The above photos show communities cleaning their wells to ensure clean drinking water.

Action: If the above is feasible, organize demonstration programmes and support the community in cleaning their wells.Action:

Cleaning ring wells

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Where it rains during the time of floods or where water flows down from mountains or where water is contaminated by arsenic, different water harvesting methods are used to collect rain water which is then stored and used for day-to-day use as seen in the above photos.

Action: If the above is feasible, organize demonstration programmes and support the community in appropriate harvesting methods.Action:


Water harvesting

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In many places families and communities have a limited choice but to utilize water from existing sources. This water needs to be filtered and purified. The above photos show families using different methods of filtering water. Another method is the use of alum as a coagulant. The water is then boiled or purified using the SODIS method. Halozone tablets may also be used for purification of water.

Water filtration

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Solar water disinfection, also known as SODIS is a method of disinfecting water using only sunlight and plastic PET bottles.

1. Highly turbid water is first filtered and then filled into transparent water bottles. 2. Bottles are filled three quarters and then shaken for 20 seconds.3. Filled bottles are then exposed to the sun and kept in a lying down position. 4. Better temperature effects can be achieved if bottles are placed on a corrugated roof as

compared to thatched roofs.5. The disinfected water can be stored in vessels or bottles which need to be thoroughly

cleaned and handled correctly to prevent contamination. 6. The treated water is safe for drinking.

Action: Organize meetings to demonstrate the importance and usefulness of SODIS. Intensive follow up with families may be required to guide them in the proper use of this method.

Action:

Suggested Treatment Schedule

Weather Conditions Minimum Treatment Duration

Sunny

50% cloudy

50-100% cloudy

Continuous rainfall

6 hours

6 hours

2 days

Unsatisfactory performance, use rainwater harvesting or other methods


SODIS

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Diarrhea is one of the most common diseases during floods. The top photo shows a demonstration on the use of ORS and the bottom photo shows children washing their hands with soap and water.

Action: Organise meetings for demonstrating the importance and use of Oral Rehydration Salt packets and preparation and use of Oral Rehydration Therapy (salt, sugar, water). Use every occasion to promote the washing of hands with soap and water and encourage children and families to practice this in their houses, before and after every meal and after defecation.

Action:

Prevention of diarrhoea

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The above photos show local communities using simple bamboo bridges for crossing small streams as well as areas which are flooded. The local community, including small children, are adept in using these 'bridges' as they are the only means of communication available.


Ensuring continuous communication

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For crossing small streams as well as areas which are flooded, temporary bridges are of great help to the local population. Communities use (top photo) and sometimes construct (bottom photo) these temporary bridges using locally available bamboo.

Action: Depending upon the need, communities may be encouraged and at times supported to construct temporary bridges using locally available materials. Action:

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Making temporary bridges

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livestock, which is one of the key assets of the family, is of great importance in family and community preparedness:

Vaccination of cattle,Health check up of livestock,Raised platforms for livestock,Fodder for livestock.

The project management team needs to:

Understand the losses of livestock and the reasons for the same,

Assess the situation of livestock of different families,

Understand the problems faced by families in protecting their livestock,

Ascertain from the community suggestions for protection and saving of livestock.

Prior to initiating action, the project management team needs to:

Establish linkages with government to ascertain the possibility of joint collaboration for cattle vaccination and the willingness of the government to provide doctors and vaccines.

Analyze and assess the likelihood and extent of resistance from the local community to vaccination.

In areas where there is likely to be resistance to cattle vaccination, identify possible supporters for the cattle vaccination programme and enlist their support in convincing the local community on the effectiveness of cattle vaccination.

Prepare a detailed plan on social mobilization activities for ensuring the success of the vaccination programme. These could be house to house visits, community level meetings, miking, use of folk theatre etc.


Protecting livestock

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The above two photos show cattle being vaccinated.

Action: Together with the local government, support the community in organizing cattle vaccination camps. Action:

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Cattle vaccination

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The above two photos show livestock being checked up by a veterinary doctor during a cattle vaccination camp.

Action: When organizing cattle vaccination camps, it is important to organize a health check up camp for other livestock. This helps to increase the response of the people. Action:


Livestock health camps

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Cattle are protected in specially prepared cattle sheds that are made on raised platforms of sand bags.

Action: Encourage families to construct raised platforms for protecting their livestock. Support may be provided if required.Action:

Raised platform for livestock

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The above photos show cattle being kept on specially raised platforms that are made of mud.

Action: In cases where large numbers of families require their livestock to be protected, communities may be encouraged to construct a common raised platform(s) for protecting their livestock. Support may be provided if required.

Action:


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In some places families construct temporarily raised bamboo shelters for their cattle, poultry as well as to stock fodder and grains. Special planks of wood are placed to enable livestock to walk into these shelters (top photo). In other places, rafts are prepared using banana stems interspersed with water hyacinths. On these special rafts, cattle are kept or transported (bottom photo).

Action: Identify local safe practices that families use to protect their livestock and organize meetings to scale up these practices.Action:

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The top photo shows fodder for cattle being collected and then dried and stored on raised platforms (bottom photo) to protect it from getting damaged by flood water.

Action: Identify traditional practices that families follow in collecting and stocking fodder for their cattle. Support the community in ensuring that all families adopt measures for stockpiling fodder for their cattle.

Action:


Fodder for livestock

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The above photos show cattle being fed with water hyacinth in the absence of proper fodder.

Action: Together with the community, identify and support methods for collecting and stocking fodder for their cattle so as to minimize the use of water hyacinth for feeding cattle during floods.

Action:

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In different parts of the world such as in Assam, India, southern parts of Cambodia and haor areas of Bangladesh, large agricultural areas are water-logged during the monsoon period and remain water-logged for 5 to 6 months in a year, as seen in the above photos. Families and communities staying in these areas lose a very important agricultural season and have to depend upon only one crop for the entire year.

Sometimes in these areas, when there are early rains, flood waters inundate the fields much earlier than anticipated resulting in destruction of standing crops which are nearly ready for harvesting. Families lose the only crop that they depend on and have no other alternative but to wait till the following year and have to depend on alternative livelihoods for their sustenance.


Protecting livelihoods

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The above photos show agricultural land being used for sowing different crops after the flood waters subside.

Action: Given the small window of opportunity for agricultural operations, optimum use must be made by using alternative cropping patterns, irrigation facilities, etc. to ensure maximum yield while at the same time minimizing their risks. Each family needs to understand that different agricultural practices have different risks associated with them. They need to accurately assess their capacity and accordingly diversify their risks so that in the event of early floods, they have adequate food to last them for the entire year.

Action:

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In places which are water-logged for many months, some families take to fishing as an alternative means of livelihood. Part of the fish caught is consumed by the family while some are dried and preserved for use later on. Some quantities are also sold in the local market as an alternative means of income. The above photos show families making fishing nets from bamboo and thread.

Action: Together with the community, identify alternative livelihoods. Families may be supported for these livelihoods through loans from the livelihood bank. These loans may be used for purchasing raw materials like thread or bamboo for making fishing nets.

Action:


Alternative livelihoods

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In some places people take to weaving (bottom photo) or rear livestock (top photo) as alternative livelihoods.

Action: Together with the community, identify and encourage families to take up alternative livelihoods. Families may be supported for these livelihoods through loans from the livelihood bank. These loans may be used for purchasing raw materials like thread or young livestock.

Action:

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s Floods affect vulnerable groups in different ways and intensities. These groups are:

Pregnant women who deliver during the time of floods,Aged,Widows,Physically challenged,Mentally challenged,Visually impaired,Speech and hearing impaired,Infants and children.

The project staff members need to:

Jointly with the community identify the different vulnerable groups in the village.

Understand the problems faced by the different vulnerable groups during the last major flood disaster.

Discuss with them suggestions for protecting different vulnerable groups.

Understand and appreciate that vulnerable groups do have resources and valuable information (aged have important historical information) which they can contribute to building the programme.

Discuss with them suggestions for involvement of different vulnerable groups in the different family and community preparedness activities.

Understand and implement an early warning system that takes into consideration the different vulnerable groups (mode of communication as well as prioritization for protection).

Jointly with the community and the local functionaries prepare, implement and monitor a plan of action for each vulnerable person in the community (see manual on Plans of Action).


Protecting vulnerable groups

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The above photo shows a pregnant woman with her immunization card.

Action: The project staff members need to encourage the community to:

Identify well in advance, all pregnant women who are likely to deliver around the time of the flood season,

Encourage the local health worker to explain to these pregnant women the importance of Ante Natal Care, exclusive breast feeding, keeping the baby warm and washing hands with soap.

Identify members of the community who will shift the pregnant women to health centers or safe places in the event of an alert for evacuation.

Prepare, jointly with the health staff, a specific plan for each pregnant woman so that there is a clear understanding on who is to take what action to help which pregnant woman in the event of an evacuation or for delivery.

Just before the flood season: The project staff members need to encourage the health staff to provide a disposable delivery kit to each pregnant woman if these women are far from any hospital.

On receipt of early warning: The family members, along with the task force group, need to immediately prepare to shift the pregnant woman to a safe place or shelter.

On nearing the date of delivery: The community needs to immediately prepare to shift the pregnant women either to a safe place or to a health center depending on the condition of the women. Local trained midwives may also be alerted in case of delivery at home.

Action:

Just before the flood season:

On receipt of early warning:

On nearing the date of delivery:

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Protecting pregnant women

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The top photo shows aged women taking part in a swimming competition. The bottom photo shows an aged person wearing a locally prepared life jacket.

Action:

.

The project staff members need to encourage the community to:

Identify all aged persons, Identify appropriate activities where these persons can participate and positively contribute,Encourage the community to provide special attention to those aged persons who have no dependants, Prepare a specific plan for each aged person so that there is a clear understanding on who is to take what action to help which aged person in the event of an evacuation.

On receipt of early warning: The family members, along with the task force group, need to immediately prepare to shift the aged persons to a safe place or shelter

Action:



Protecting aged persons

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Both the photos show physically challenged persons involved in different preparedness activities such as planting of trees and making life jackets.

Action: The project staff members need to:

Encourage the community to identify all physically challenged persons, Identify appropriate activities where these persons can positively contribute,Encourage the community to provide special attention to all physically challenged persons, Prepare a specific plan for each physically challenged person so that there is a clear understanding on who is to take what action to help which physically challenged person in the event of an evacuation.

On receipt of early warning: The family members, along with the task force group, need to immediately prepare to shift the physically challenged persons to a safe place or shelter.

Action:


Protecting physically challenged

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The top photo shows an identification tag being tied to the hand of a hearing and speech impaired girl. Though speech and hearing impaired, this girl took an active part in planting trees to protect the river bank from erosion (see bottom photo).

Action: The project staff members need to encourage the community to identify speech and hearing impaired persons and identify appropriate activities where these persons can positively contribute. The project staff members need to encourage the community to develop appropriate systems of multi-media communication.

Early warning message: The early warning messages should be communicated in different modes and media so that speech and hearing impaired persons can also understand and take appropriate action on receipt of early warning messages.

Action:

Early warning message:

Protecting speech and hearing impaired persons


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The two photos show visually impaired women wearing a locally prepared life jacket which provides them a feeling of security in the event of moving through flood waters.

Action: The project staff members need to encourage the community to identify visually impaired persons and identify appropriate activities where these persons can positively contribute. The staff members need to encourage the community to develop appropriate systems of multi-media communication.

Early warning message: The early warning messages should be communicated in different modes and media so that visually impaired persons can also understand and take appropriate action on receipt of early warning messages.

Action:

Early warning message:

Protecting the visually impaired

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The top photo shows children using life jackets to go to school during floods. In the bottom photo, a mother takes her child through flood waters with the mother and child both wearing specially prepared life jackets made from locally available materials.

Action: The project staff members need to encourage the community to identify appropriate methods for protecting children when they travel to school during the flood season as well as methods for ensuring the protection of infants.

Action:


Protecting children and infants

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The top photo shows a widow actively participating in raising the plinth level of her house. The bottom photo shows a widow preparing a braided rope for hanging household items as part of a preparedness activity.

Action: The project staff members need to encourage the community to identify all widows and identify appropriate activities where these persons can positively contribute. The staff members need to encourage the community to provide special attention to those widows who have no dependants. The community needs to prepare a specific plan for each widow so that there is a clear understanding on who is to take what action to help which widow in the event of an evacuation.

On receipt of early warning: The family members, along with the task force group, need to immediately prepare to shift the widows to a safe place or shelter.

Action:


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Protecting widows

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Chapter IV

Challenges

This manual has detailed out a wide range of activities that families and communities can do to protect their lives, livelihoods, houses, household items, documents, livestock and so on in South Asian and South-East Asian countries. The experiences presented are meant to be indicative of a range of possibilities. For the practitioner, it poses a continuous challenge to think creatively keeping in mind the local context, culture and environment. A simple copying and implementing of these activities without analysing and understanding the local context is fraught with danger as some of these activities can become irrelevant and meaningless in a particular context.

The next challenge lies in understanding the time sequences of the above range of activities as each activity has a particular time frame. It is these time frames that determine the plan of implementation.

And finally, these activities are not to be implemented in a mechanical manner or mere targets to be achieved. Many of them are process driven to ensure the ownership of the families and communities. They are also very important for building a strong rapport with families and communities.

The manuals on processes and strategies would provide guidance on how to manage the challenges mentioned above.

Challenges

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Acronyms and abbreviations

ASDMA Assam State Disaster Management Authority. Assam India

BCC Behaviour Change Communication

CBDP Community Based Disaster Preparedness

CFDP Community and Family Disaster Preparedness

CBO Community Based Organization

CD Community Dialogue

DRR Disaster Risk Reduction

FGD Focused Group Discussion

GGSS Guwahati Gana Seva Society, Guwahati, India

GIS Geographical Information Systems

HVCA Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment

IAY Indira Awaz Yojana (Government of India housing scheme for the rural poor)

IEC Information Education and Communication

IMD India Meteorological Department

IPC Inter Personal Communication

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

JTWC Joint Typhoon Warning Center

JUST Jana Unnayan Samiti Tripura, Agartala, India

FSK Family Survival Kit

MDG Millennium Development Goals

NDRF National Disaster Response Force (India)

NEC North-Eastern Council (India)

NEDSF North Eastern Diocesan Social Forum, Guwahati India

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

PLA Participatory Learning and Action

PoA Plans of Action

SHG Self-Help Group

SSC Social Service Centre, Shillong, India

TCWC Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre

TFG Task Force Group

UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund

WDC Women Development Centre, Guwahati, India

WMO World Meteorological Organization

Acronyms and abbreviations

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About the Author

Mr Jude Henriques is currently an International Consultant with Caritas

Germany for providing technical support to other National Caritas

Organisations. He was also the Project Manager for the DIPECHO-Caritas

supported Community and Family Disaster Preparedness Project in Assam,

India. As part of the technical support to Caritas Asia, he facilitated several

capacity building programmes on Community Based Disaster Preparedness for

national Caritas partners in South Asia and South East Asia. He is also providing

consultancy services to other International NGOs.

He has been appointed by the Government of Assam, India, as the Chairman of

the Drafting Committee for the Revision of the Assam Relief Manual. In this

capacity, he has prepared and submitted the draft of “The Assam Disaster

Management Manual” to the Government of Assam.

For over 20 years until retirement, Mr Henriques was a National Programme

Officer with UNICEF. He worked in different states of India and provided

technical assistance to other countries of the region in the field of primary

education. Since 2000, he initiated and led the CBDP programme in West

Bengal, India, till his retirement in 2007. He has also worked extensively in other

areas such as urban development, rural development, behaviour change

communication, polio eradication and strengthening routine immunization.

Prior to joining UNICEF, Mr Jude Henriques was a faculty member of Tata

Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India where he did extensive research,

evaluation and action research in education and development.

Contact details:

Email: henriques_jude@ yahoo.co.in

Mobile number: +91-9830781610

Contact details:

Caritas Asia covers the countries and territories in the Asian continent subdivided into four

sub-regions: South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia, and Central Asia containing 32

countries, out of these 21 are full-fledged members by 2011 within the Caritas

Internationalis Confederation of 165 Caritas Organizations in 200 countries in the world.

There are five in South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; nine in South

East Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, East Timor, Singapore,

Thailand and Vietnam; six countries in East Asia: Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, South Korea,

Taiwan and Mongolia; and one in Central Asia: Kazakhstan. There are two Associate

members in Central Asia: Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Asia region constitutes one of the seven Regions within the Caritas Internationalis (CI)

Confederation under the name “Caritas Asia”. The history of Caritas Asia is linked with

Caritas Internationalis. In 1999 Asian Members of this Region decided to start Caritas Asia

Regional Secretariat. Today its Regional Office is situated at Bangkok, in Thailand in a

permanent way.

Asian countries have been by and large characterized by natural and human made

disasters and the accompanying poverty condition of vast masses in several of these

countries. Hence they are busy organizing the poor towards empowerment and self-

reliance as well as organizing community based disaster preparedness programmes for all

natural and human made disasters.

Vision of Caritas Asia is the creation of a just, equitable and humane society through a

process of globalisation and civilization; of love and peace in the Asian Region.

Consequently its mission is the following: 1. To organise relief and rehabilitation in a proactive way by undertaking community

based disaster preparedness to deal with natural and human made disasters through a

global solidarity of finance and personnel from all countries in the Caritas

Confederation;2. To organise special teams to deal with human-made disasters towards conflict

resolution, reconciliation and establishment of peace and harmony;3. To take up the cause of sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and anti-

trafficking of women and children through its programmes;4. To organise effective awareness building programmes and motivation for action

through a process of empowerment containing capacity building programmes,

development of knowledge and skills among the members;5. To build up the institutional and organisational aspect of every Caritas member in Asia;6. To take up advocacy and lobbying wherever needed for the cause of the marginalized

and oppressed by networking with all Caritas Organisations in Europe and elsewhere,

so that the voice of those poor, marginalized and oppressed is heard well and thereby

create an impact in the corridors of power.

Caritas Asia10th floor Phaholyothin Place Building,

408/42 Phaholyothin Road,Phayathai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.

Caritas Asia