Four Tips on How to Reduce the Effect of Flood in Schools and Communities
It is often said that children are the hope for the future, yet their success of reshaping and redefining the future is greatly dependent on the skill sets and knowledge imparted on to them by the elderly generations. According to UNICEF 2021, one billion children worldwide are at extremely high risk due to climate change impacts including Climate-related disasters. Statistics from the United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), says over 500 thousand schools have been damaged or destroyed as a result of disasters globally. Thus, in cognizance with the Sendai framework, the focus of the International Day for Disaster Risk management (IDDRR) 2024 is on the role of education in the protecting and empowering children for a Disaster-free future. IDDRR 2024 is celebrated under the theme: – “Empowering the next generation for a resilient future”.
The UNDRR is aiming to globally accomplish, the substantial reduction of disaster risks be it in the loss of lives, livelihoods, poor health and the impacts on the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries. The call to action for this year’s IDDRR, is on countries to harness the education sector in a manner that reduces the risks of disasters for children of school age, by ensuring schools are disaster resilient and part of disaster early warning systems, through empowering them with age appropriate educational materials, to guide their understanding on the types of natural disasters around them, the possible risks involved, mitigation and adaptation measures, thereby building their preparedness to take early action in response to early warnings.The cases of floods and landslides have been on the rise over the years in Cameroon. In the Far North for example, hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the heavy rains this year like never before. An estimated 124,120 children under the age five have been severely affected by the floods this year, leaving them exposed to waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. The rains have also obstructed access to schools and education, as a total of 262 schools were destroyed, damaged or cut off by the floods, affecting 103,906 students and 1,418 teachers in the Mayo-Danay and Logone-et-Chari division of the Far North Region, (UNICEF, 2024).Children spend most of their time on schools and the first few months of each academic year is characterized by rainfalls. Due to the change in climatic conditions, rains are becoming more intense and flooding incidents are more frequent and severe as compared to before. Our children however should remain safe and perfectly secure from all the dangers of the outer world, including natural disasters while at school, reasons why this year’s IDDRR is focused on #safeschools for our children. This article will be sharing with us a few tips on how to reduce the effects of floods on schools in our communities. The tips below can help schools develop a flood preparation plan to protect school property, staff and pupils/students, in case of flooding.
1. Planning ahead of the emergency: Once you identify your school environment as a flood pruned one, it’s always Important to plan ahead of the actual emergency. Planning ahead helps to minimize chaos, effects and negative impact.· Train teachers and pupils/students: Knowledge and understanding are power. For any institution to cope, prevent or reduce damages caused by a flooding event, the teachers should be properly trained on the subject matter and a curriculum drawn on how to pass on the information to the children in a manner that is suitable for the different age groups.· Train personnel and hold emergency drills from time to time to ensure action awareness and execution models/ safety protocols. This builds confidence and calmness, so when it finally happens, people know exactly what to do without panic and confusion.· Create a proper Communication System: Have an established communication plan/system for information circulation across the school in case of an actual emergency. Whichever method you choose, ensure that it delivers the message quickly and keeps everyone updated in real-time.· Create a list of emergency phone numbers and important contacts and keep it in the area where it is most visible and accessible.
2. Protecting School Property: If your school is still to be built, ensure your structures are properly elevated, and follow all flood related building safety protocols. If it has been built already the following can be applied; –· Build a flood barrier around the school to prevent water from entering the school premises, or buy an inflatable flood barrier or use mud bags or filled up plastic bags to build the flood barrier.· Seal doors to prevent water seeping through into classrooms· Consider placing expensive equipment, such as computers and lab equipment, in higher levels of the building or on higher surfaces, as well as important papers and assets. Floods will rarely rise beyond the first floor of the building, allowing anything on the second floor to escape relatively unscathed.· Teach responsible personnel to shut off gas, electricity, and water in case of disaster; this is to prevent other probable causes such as electrical shocks, or any other unforeseen incidents.· Seal walls with waterproofing materials like tar, waterproof membranes to avoid seepage through.
3. Create effective drainage systems: If you school yard is often flooded you can apply the following efficient drainage systems in and around the school tips to prevent future flooding.· French drain: it is a simple trench dug in the ground in the most problematic areas of the yard to help guide flooded water out of the environment.· Pop up drainage system: this type of drainage system is designed to collect water from the school yard through an underground pipe and redirect it away from the school yard to the street or river or safer place. · Yard regrading: this works well for yard that aren’t slopy by nature or yards that slope in the wrong direction. Regrading your yard refers to changing of the slope gradients in a manner that it directs the water flow away from the property.· Curtain wells: this requires the creation of a pipe system around the school environment that all lead to a dug well or deep pit to help drain water from the yard.· Sump pump: it is a type of pump that is installed in the lowest part of a property and it helps to redirect water away into a drainage system.
4. Arranging Safe Transportation: Always make arrangements for extra and safe transportation with sturdy and weather resistant cars, for your staff and pupils/students so that they can get home quickly and safely in case of severe floods. In rare cases, where evacuation may not be possible, make preparations ahead of time for a safe space like higher grounds for staffs and children to wait until help arrives.
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