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Flash Flood Risk Management – A Training of Trainers Manual session 18 Box 16: Community and household preparedness Why should communities in flash flood prone areas be prepared? Flash floods are inevitable and beyond anyone’s control. Everyone living in the flood prone area will be affected to some extent. Outside support is limited, and no institutions outside the community can manage flash flood risk. The community should therefore be prepared for the event. Community mobilisation, awareness raising, and preparation can increase community resilience. Resilient communities are capable of adjusting and bouncing back from adverse events. They can do this by actively preparing for economic, social, and environmental change. Community resilience can be cultivated through social learning, which is the learning process that takes place among a group of people who seek to improve a common situation by taking action collectively; flash flood risk management is just such a situation. Emergency preparedness at the household level Communities need to be prepared for flood hazards. Each member of the hazard prone community should be prepared with the following: • emergency supplies of important items (such as medication, money, bank information) • stockpiles of food, water, and fodder for livestock • stockpiles of cooking utensils and fuel • a plan for refuge in case of an evacuation • materials and methods for emergency flood proofing (sandbagging and boarding) • plans to move vehicles and livestock to higher ground How to raise awareness for local preparedness • Street drama and songs • School art and essay competitions • Training and demonstrations (with audio-visuals) • Printed matter (posters, brochures, etc.) • Regular drills • Promotion by local celebrities Box 17: How to respond to a flood warning • Listen to the radio for updated emergency information. • Be alert to signs of flooding. • Bring outdoor belongings (e.g., patio furniture, bicycles) indoors. • Move valuable household possessions to the upper floors or to safe ground if time permits. • Move quickly to higher ground. If you live in a flood prone area or think you are at risk, evacuate immediately. • Follow instructions and heed the advice of local authorities. • If advised to evacuate, do so immediately. • Follow recommended evacuation routes. An effective means of reaching the community is to approach the children. Children will relate these school activities to their families and friends. The older participants can also be asked to prepare evacuation plans for their families highlighting their knowledge of safe places, and their understanding of what food and other basic supplies and equipment might be needed. Various types of training can be given to adults and workers regarding hazards, existing resources, and considerations in flash flood risk management. Since experience shows that it can be difficult to give awareness training to elderly people, one strategy can be to approach them when they are taking part in local feasts and festivals. During this time, awareness programmes can be presented using audiovisual media. Street theatre can also be used at times of social gatherings in the village to help raise awareness. Similarly, if local celebrities can be convinced to participate in the event they can lend their voice to it and help to convey the massage effectively and in an entertaining manner. Cooperation with local media can be helpful but it is necessary to be mindful that many of the poorest households still do not have access. Yet another approach can be to place large and attractive maps of flood hazard areas in public places such as schools, market places, health posts, and village councils to get local people to discuss them and become acquainted with the different features. Drills In addition to all the preparation measures, demonstration drills are also very helpful. The CFFRMCs can conduct drills to prepare the community for emergencies by involving all members of the community, including women, children, and the elderly. Demonstrations, drills, and simulations are necessary for efficient disaster preparedness. Exercises and demonstrations can include orientations to provide general information on evacuation plans. Drills also serve to test run the plans and verify how effective they are (ADPC/UNDP 2005). 132
Day 8 Flood forecasting and early warning Communities use a variety of forecasting methods to minimise losses since some warning systems work better than others depending on the environment. In some communities, one particular warning signal might be more effective than others because of the nature of the hazard. The key to an effective forecasting and warning system is to be able to disseminate the information and to communicate it in a form that is understandable to a mass audience. Radio and television can provide weather information such as how much rainfall is expected and where it is expected. Since this type of information can be useful in forecasting flash floods, communities should be encouraged to heed these mass media weather reports especially during the monsoon season. CFFRMCs should be familiar with local knowledge and incorporate it in preparedness plans and early warning systems. Local knowledge can be as simple as observing clouds in the upper catchments or observing changes in the water flows (e.g., rising water levels, river water mixed with mud, and leaves floating on the water). Increasing numbers of fish in the river, unusual sounds or smells, and unusual behaviour of animals also provide clues that something has changed and that a flood may be imminent. Ice avalanches and glacial calving generate loud noises that can be taken as early warning signals. Similarly, continued rainfall in the surrounding areas or in the upper catchments of a stream provides a clue as to the likelihood of a flood event. The CFFRMC (through volunteers) can set up a network of rain gauges and they can share the information with each other about the amount and intensity of rainfall. A person from the community can be given the responsibility to keep an eye on upstream watershed condition from the early warning outlook tower; if the water level rises above normal, he or she can issue a warning to the community (Box 18). Issuing an audiovisual warning can be as simple as beating a drum, flashing a mirror, or starting a signal fire. A simple yet effective means is to use a mirror to reflect sunlight down to the village. Alternatively, creating a large fire on a hilltop can warn downstream communities. Box 18: Some ways to communicate warnings • Warning flags, fires, or flashing mirrors • Radio broadcasts • Loudspeakers or beating loud drums • Police • Interpersonal communications • Telephone (landline and mobile) Herders who see signs of an impending flood can also issue a warning to the community, by shouting to other herders on lower pastures or to the nearest village in a chain system. Since herders typically spread their flocks evenly on the available grazing space, they are in a good position to see other herders further on down the valley; in this way the message can be relayed from valley to valley. Herders typically use different rhythms and tunes to convey different messages. Using this type of local knowledge for communication ensures that it is in tune with the local socio-cultural context, and that, as such, it is well accepted and trusted as well as being cost effective. Structural measures for hazard mitigation To address hazards properly, some community-level structural measures are also needed. An account of the past history of the community can encourage its households to minimise flood damage by taking some structural measures. Simple structural measures can be: • embankments along tributaries; • minor drainage works which allow the flood to pass, thus avoiding inundation; • irrigation canals that divert water to agricultural fields; • culverts and floodways; • construction of houses, communities, and roads in upland areas only; • polders to enclose houses, fields, food supplies, or animal fodder; • construction of public buildings such as schools or auditoriums in upland areas so that they can also be used as refuges where the whole community can take shelter during a flood. session 18 133
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Flash Flood Risk Management A Train
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Published by International Centre f
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Foreword The Hindu Kush-Himalayan (
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Acronyms and Abbreviations CFFRMC D
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Flash Flood Risk Management - A Tra
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Flash Flood Risk Management - A Tra
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Introduction Day 1 Session/Activity
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Day 1 Suggestions for the facilitat
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Day 1 Suggestions for the facilitat
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Day 1 Session 2 Flash Flood Hazards
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Day 1 Session 2 Resource Materials
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Day 1 RM 2.4: Flash floods in the H
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Day 1 in flash floods during the pe
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Day 1 Activity 3.2: Identifying the
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Day 1 Figure 4: Categorisation of f
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Day 1 Session 4 Flash Flood Hazard
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Day 2 Session/Activity Session 5: V
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Day 2 Activity 5.2: Flash flood ris
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Day 2 In a physically vulnerable zo
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Day 2 Step 2 Show the short video o
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Day 2 Session 6 Handouts Handout 6.
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Day 2 Figure 8: The four pillars of
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Day 2 • As a result of rapid cha
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Day 2 Session 7 Community-Based Fla
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Day 2 Step 4 Step 5 Discuss the dif
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Day 2 Figure 10: Framework for comm
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Day 2 • First-aid and health: Th
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Day 2 Session 8 Gender Perspectives
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Day 2 The CFFRMC also plays a role
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Day 2 Note to the trainer Clarify t
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Day 2 groups such as people with di
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Day 2 RM 9.3: Process of participat
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Day 3 Session/Activity Activity tim
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Day 3 Activity 10.3: Strategies for
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Day 3 RM 10.2: Various strategies f
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disseminated. The South Asian tsuna
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Day 3 Geospatial Stream Flow Model
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Day 3 Activity 12.2: Concept and co
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Day 3 perspective means looking for
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Day 3 their livelihoods. Watershed
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Page 121 and 122: Day 4 Supra or englacial drainage.
Page 123 and 124: Day 4 Briefing for the Field Trip T
Page 125: Days 5, 6, and 7 Field Trip
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