By Philip Ayuen Dot, Nairobi, Kenya
Saturday, May 30, 2020 (PW) — The past few weeks has seen increased flooding in the country with Juba International Airport being under water, states like Jonglei (Bortown) being engulfed in heavy rains, while roads such as the Juba-Rumbek road that is under construction being carried away by the floods. This has seen thousands of people displaced from their homes while probably off camera crops and animals have been carried away, as well as destruction of existing infrastructure. Waterborne diseases have been on the rise as well.
However, this isn’t the first time that floods are affecting South Sudan, if anything they are beginning to become a common feature in the country. Last year in November over 900,000 people were affected by floods, while right now barely six months later, the same problem still persists. And with the country being named among the top 5 countries that will be severely impacted by the effects of climate change, then floods are to be expected even more frequently.
Going forward floods should be prepared for adequately. After all, they cannot be prevented, but the effects of floods in the country can be controlled. And this will include short term and long term measures.
Short term measures for abating the impacts of floods on the people involve giving immediate assistance to the victims of floods. This starts with rescuing those still trapped in the floods, taking them to higher areas or relief camps, giving them water purification tablets, food and medical care for the sick as well as temporary shelter.
So far the international community in conjunction with the government has been the one responsible for this, but the government needs to set up its own Disaster Response Unit that should be well equipped and efficient. It is important for the country to have its own internal rescue team and an efficient department or ministry dealing with flooding emergencies, as it can be faster than outside help and thus will ensure that the loss of life is minimized.
A single command management system can also be set up to help deal with floods. During floods a whole lot of agencies come to help the country deal with the emergencies. There is need for all these agencies to be coordinated from one command center so as to avoid duplication of efforts, and to also ensure that the people affected get the assistance they need as soon as they can.
Long term strategies are also needed for the country to have the flooding situation under control. These include; a weather forecasting system and a better flood warning system, relocating people from low lying areas, building floodwalls, building flood resistant infrastructure, increasing the budget set aside for flood mitigation and reforestation. We shall discuss some of these long term measures in details.
South Sudan needs an efficient weather forecasting system. This will assist in knowing when rains are due and how long they shall last, as well as the expected intensity. Through this states more likely to experience floods can be warned in advance and emergency assistance taken to where it may be needed most in advance. Furthermore this will reduce loss of property, animals and crops as people can prepare to evacuate early or before the floods come.
Weather forecasting goes hand in hand with a better flood warning system. This can be both Trans boundary that is between South Sudan and neighboring countries such as Uganda, or locally between the states and communities. The river Nile once it floods in Uganda is more likely to cause flash floods in the country via the Nile.
There is therefore need to ensure that the two countries have an efficient flood warning system between them. Furthermore, the government needs to find ways of ensuring that there is an efficient means of communicating to the people in the villages about the onset of floods or heavy rains and when they shall be expected.
The other strategy that can be used for communities in low lying areas where floods are frequent visitors, is to relocate them to higher ground. This can be done for areas that are next to rivers that are forever breaking their banks. It doesn’t mean the areas are wastelands, but as has been done in other African countries, those low lying areas can be used as farms, but where people don’t live there, they only come to farm. This way people still have their land or farms, but do not lose their lives each time floods come.
The other strategy is to build flood resistant infrastructure, this is what japan has done with its buildings by making them earthquake resistant when they realized that their country is always being hit by earthquakes. South Sudan can also do the same with houses, roads and airports. Now that floods are becoming an occasional phenomena, then engineers should put that in mind as they design huge infrastructural projects such as highways, and even houses.
That will prevent incidents such as the Juba-Rumbek one where a road under construction was carried away. As for the already existing infrastructure such as the Juba International Airport, it can be reinforced against floods by building water diversion channels for example so as to ensure the airport is never flooded.
Another way to reduce the negative impacts of floods is to plant trees. This increases the soils ability to absorb water. It also prevents soil erosion during floods and thus preventing the soil from losing its fertility after floods. Furthermore, forests reduce the intensity of water flowing and thus reducing the impact fast flowing flood water would have caused.
These are some of the measures the country can take to prepare itself against the recurrent floods. Even though Africa has always treated floods as an emergency that can’t be helped, it can be anticipated and its effects reduced.
The author graduated from Kenyatta University, Kenya, with BSc of Environmental Science, and can be reached via his email: philipdot57@gmail.com