Some places in Rwanda are prone to disasters. The most frequent natural disasters are floods and landslides, and both have a tremendous impact on human lives, property, infrastructure and the environment. For example, in May 2016, both disasters hit Gakenke and Muhanga, killing more than forty people. Rubavu and Ngororero were also hit, and seven people died in these places while others were left injured. Parts of Northern Rwanda are most susceptible to these disasters (REMA, 2011, 45). These include Rubavu Districts, Musanze, Nyabihu, and Burera. Although these are natural disasters, their magnitude is determined by a combination of factors such as unpreparedness of the risk management department, and a vulnerable population that lives in these areas (Douglas et al, 2008, 187-205). Many times, people are left impoverished in the wake of the disasters as their property is destroyed, sometimes, during the landslides; their farms become inaccessible and unusable.
Floods are overflowing water on lands that are usually not submerged in water (Watts, 2006, 77). They are a result of heavy rains in an area that is flat, with also strong winds. During the rainy seasons, rivers burst their banks flooding the surrounding areas. These are known as the river floods and depending on their strength; they have the ability to carry houses and people, alongside farm animals and destroy farms during their rage. Flash floods are floods that occur suddenly due to a storm that falls on a place in a quickly. They are common in cities built in plains and flood roads. These floods also happen in mountainous or steep and sloppy places, where steep slopes cause water to travel at high speeds. Flash floods cause both widespread and localized flooding in Rwanda.
Disasters are a disruption of people’s or community’s normal functioning that causes economic, human and environmental losses which exceed the people’s ability to cope with limited resources. Disasters result from hazards, and vulnerabilities, insufficient coping resources to reduce the disaster’s effects and consequences (Pine, 2009 12). The most common disaster in Rwanda is flooding. However, the government is committed to ensuring that people’s lives and the economy are not disrupted or destructed by floods. It has put in place a ministry that deals with disaster and risk management, including floods.
Disaster risk reduction is a framework with ways of minimizing the consequences of a catastrophe in the society. It also encompasses ways of avoiding the disaster and even limiting its effects if it does occur. That is known as disaster mitigation measures and preparedness. Disaster risk reduction falls under sustainable development.
The Rwandan Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee affairs has taken the flooding issue very seriously. Already, it has established the flood-prone areas are the areas in the Northern part of the country, which include Rubavu, Rutsiro, Nyamasheke, Rusizi, and Karongi. The areas mentioned above experience frequent flooding. The government has put in mitigation measures to ensure that the disasters are not harmful to the population as they would be and neither do they destroy the infrastructure as they would without the measures in place. However, since the disasters are natural and often triggered by heavy rainfall that befalls the areas during the rainy season, there is not much that the government can do to prevent them. However, since it is established that these places experience the disasters on a yearly basis, the government has provided resources that help deal with the disasters as they occur.
For instance, disaster management department works in close collaboration with the meteorological department, and communication between the two provides warning to the people just before the floods occur. People living in plains are urged to move to higher grounds before the rains which trigger flooding come. Floods are fatal and can bury human life alongside properties, cause massive destruction to property and subsequently, the economy. Floods common in Rwanda are localized floods or widespread. Localized floods are resulting from torrential rains while widespread floods result from overflowing rivers which break their banks.
In Rwanda, the floods are hazards because they cause injury and death to people, damage economic as trading activities cannot occur while they rage on. Floods wash away the farm and the crops, as well as the fertile top soil leaving the ground bare. Crops cannot do well in such places. Floods also have the ability to carry people injuring or killing them. However, with the emergence of technologies that help forecast when flooding is likely to occur, most of the severe effects of flooding have been addressed. For instance, the Rwandese meteorological department foretells the commencement of the rainy season, and the Disaster Management and Refugee affairs ministry evacuates people living in flood prone areas. Additionally, places, where flooding occurs, are raised or rehabilitated to ensure that they do not flood. Dykes and river channels in Rubavu have also been deepened and widened to control or prevent flooding. These exercises have worked in some areas. However, in other regions, the there is a need to rehabilitate the lands, especially lowlands and plains. That can be done by building dams on big rivers that flood frequently. The water can be used for purposes such as irrigation or hydroelectric power production, hence, preventing the calamities that are floods and sill benefitting from the heavy downpour that would otherwise cause massive losses.
Additionally, where it is impossible to construct dams to the width of a river, the ministry has advocated the building of diversion canals. Using the channels, excess water is diverted to artificial dams. That significantly reduces the loss and suffering that the floods have the potential to cause. However, the two require a lot of resources, in terms of time, manpower, expertise and capital before they can function. The government is, therefore, by the ministry and affiliated organizations and stakeholders looking for funders or donors that will help undertake these projects. The northern part of Rwanda will benefit from these initiatives once they are completed as floods are common in the area, and not only do they cause suffering among people, but also destroy people’s lives and cause massive losses.
On the other hand, disaster Preparedness refers to the knowledge developed by professionals and organizations working in Disaster Management, the government as well as the ability of people and communities to respond effectively and efficiently to a disaster or a hazard. Rwanda has a functional Ministry of Disaster Management helps minimize the effects of disasters such as floods. Many organizations and government offices are involved in disaster preparedness, prevention and dealing with the losses or the aftermath of the disasters. Additionally, the ministry which is the leader in disaster management: preparedness, identification, risk mitigation has a department which helps prepare people for disasters that can potentially happen and even, mobilizing resources to help minimize the effects of the catastrophe (Smith, 2013, 33-37). That is disaster preparedness. It ensures that people and the government are not caught unaware, and they respond to the disaster or hazard, fast enough minimizing the losses and human suffering that could occur if they were caught unaware. Also, the department reduces the country’s dependence on international relief organizations that sometimes help people and countries going through natural disasters.
Resilience is the ability to absorb stress from destructive forces that disasters are. Resilience helps people adapt to the change and maintain their essential function, as well as recover fully after a disaster. Rwanda’s resilience strength is gotten from the fact that the country has a ministry dedicated to mitigating disaster risks. Therefore, there are resources set aside for dealing with disasters as they strike. Hence the state responds fast to a disaster; floods, in particular, receive attention because they have the ability to cause suffering, homelessness, property destruction, all of which will make the government seem incompetent. Additionally, there is high awareness and preparedness among people, ministries and offices concerned. Awareness ensures that people know of fore coming dangers and how to protect themselves. Since floods occur during every heavy rainfall season, people have become accustomed to expecting them, and therefore, only in rare incidences are they caught unawares.
Additionally, risks caused by flooding include the destruction of property, loss of lives, disrupted economic activities and so on (Pine, 2008, 12-33). These risks are calculated in the Rwandan Ministry of Disaster Management. The risks also influence response capacity. Rwanda is a country that has lost many lives to disasters; however, the country has always emerged successful in countering a disaster. That is because the nation has identified that it is prone to disasters and therefore, put in place mitigation measures which ensure that the country overcomes the problems quickly, enabling people to resume their normal lives with minimal interference and within the shortest time possible. For instance, before the heavy rains, people living in lowlands are encouraged to move to higher grounds (Asumadu-Sarkodie et al, 2015, 960-970). Additionally, rivers that are likely to burst their banks have dikes and canals dug to drain the excess water safely. The country is also building hydroelectric power plants and dams in the northern parts of the country, including Rubavu. The dams will store the excess rainwater, and it will be used in making hydroelectric electricity as well as for irrigation and recreation purposes.
Finally, from the above we see that the country is prone to environmental disasters such as flooding. Flooding occurs every heavy rainfall season and is common in the northern part of the country (Asumadu-Sarkodie, et al, 2015, 960-970). However, the government is keen on making sure that floods do not affect the lives of people. The government takes mitigation measures through the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs. The ministry has advocated for building dikes and canals, as well as dams to collect the excess water and put it into use. The government provides a budget for these activities and also asks for funding from donor organizations that work in the environmental field.
References
Asumadu-Sarkodie, S., Rufangura, P., Jayaweera, H. M., & Owusu, P. A. 2015. Situational analysis of flood and drought in Rwanda. International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, 6(8), 960-970.
Claire Watts, 2006. Natural Disasters. New York: DK publishers. 77
Douglas, I., Alam, K., Maghenda, M., Mcdonnell, Y., McLean, L., & Campbell, J. 2008). Unjust waters: climate change, flooding and the urban poor in Africa. Environment and Urbanization, 20(1), 187-205.
Rwanda Atlas of our Changing Environment, REMA,2011. 45
UN Geneva Convention,2008. Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction. UNEP 37
Pine, J.,2008. Natural Hazards Analysis: Reducing the Impact of Disasters. FL: CRC Press. 12-33
Smith, K., 2013. Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster. NY:Routledge. 33-37
