DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION

IN RWANDA

DISASTERMANAGEMENTMODULE FOR
SECONDARY SCHOOLS TO BE INTEGRATED IN
THE CURRICULA AS “GENERAL
PAPER”DEDICATED TO S4, S5 & S6 .

Prepared by:
MrsNYIRANSABIMANA Fernande
Professional in Charge of Public Awareness
and Prevention
Research and Public Awareness Unit
Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs
April,2011

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Content

1.What is a disaster?.................................................................................p3

2.Categories of disasters…………………………………………….…..……p3

a.Categories of disasters depending on their origin……………..…….p3

b.Categories of disasters depending on the speed of their onset ..…p4

3.What is disaster management?................................................................p5

4.Disastermanagement cycle ………………….………………..…….….…..p6

a.prevention………………………………………..……………………………p6

b.preparedness………………………………………………………………….p6

c.response……………………………………….………………………………p7

d.recovery………………………………………………………………………..p7

5.Major disasters in Rwanda …………………….……………………………p9

a.Floods………………………………………………………………….……p9

b.Landslides…………………………………………………………………p10

b. Drought ……………………………………………………………....p11

d.Fire…………………………………………………………,,.……………p11

e.Epidemics…………………………………………………………..………..p12

f.Strong winds, thunder and lightning……………………………………p13

g.Earthquake………………………..……………………………..……….P14

h. Volcanic eruption…………………………………………………. ……p14

i.Different accidents……………………..………………………………..…..P15

CONCLUSION………………………………………….……………………..P15

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1.WHAT IS A DISASTER?
Almost every day,newspapers,radios and televisions channels carry reports on disaster
striking in several parts of the world .But what is a disaster? The term disaster owes
its origin to the French word “Désastre”which is a combination of two words
“des”meaning bad and “aster” meaning star .Thus the term refers to” Bad or Evil star”
A disaster can be defined as a serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or
environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or
society to cope using its own resources1;
A disaster means a progressive or sudden,widespread or localized,natural or
human-caused occurrence which:
a)Causes or threatens to cause:
(i)death,injury or disease;
(ii)damage to property,infrastructure or the environment;or
(iii) disruption of a community;and
b)is of a magnitude that exceeds the ability of those affected to cope using only
their own resources.
It can also be defined as something very bad that happens and causes a lot of
damage or kills a lot of people.
2.CATEGORIES OF DISASTERS
Broadly we can categorize disasters in the following groups:
a. According to their origin,there are:

 natural disasters
This includes earthquakes,volcanic eruptions,landslides,droughts,floods,lightning and
thunderstorms,cyclones,tsunami, epidemics(e.g.Ebola),etc.

 human made or man induced disasters

This includes terrorism,crowd incendences, fires,war,conflict,technological and industrial
accidents,deforestation causing erosion and destroying watercatchments
areas,epidemics( cholera,dysentery,..), environmental pollution such as atmospheric
Pollution causing greenhouse effect/global warming, respiratory diseases, cancers,
genetic mutations and cardiovascular diseases

Currently, the largest atmospheric polluting elements remains the fumes from
exhausted fuels used in great quantities in power stations and in transport. Many
ISDR, 2007);International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
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substances contained in these fumes are carcinogenicpoisons (substance that produce
cancer) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) which causes climatic changes(rise in temperature,
floods and dryness).

They also contains substances which result into acid rains which damage plants and
pollute lakes, rivers, and streams.

Other atmospheric pollutant are:

-Industrial fumes which gives off toxic oxides, metals and acid rains.

-Gases (CFC, HFC) destroy the ozone layer(ozone forms a barrier against ultraviolet
rays from the sun). This radiation is very dangerous to human health.

-Cigarette smoke which poisons the smoker and those in his vicinity and causes
cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and cancer.

 complex disaster
This includes war or conflict trigger other issues such as famine,epidemics(due to lack
of clean water or sanitation),refugee status e.g.the Rwanda
genocide,Somalia,Democratic Republic of Congo crisis etc.

Some of remedies for durable exploitation of environmental as part of DRR

measures
These durable exploitation of environment can be regarded as disaster risk
reduction(DRR) measures. The following are some of the measures to be taken:
a)Community participation
The population must actively participate in rational management of their environment.
Populations bordering the protected zones (forests, rivers, lakes,..) can :
-be forest guards to fight against poaching and bush fires
-participate in afforestation campaigns and initiation of green belts because forest
absorbs CO2 released in the atmosphere and prevents the soil from erosion
-protection of public fountains

b)Improvement of farming methods

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In agricultural areas, it is not necessary to utilize the methods which do not degrade the
environment:
-to recommend crop-rotation techniques and to practice agro-forestry
-to limit the maximum use of pesticides and to promote the use of organic manures.
-to avoid as much as possible cultivation of steep slopes and to dig terraces.
-to dig anti-erosive ditches and to plant anti-erosive hedges.
c. Adhere to the drawn plans
Municipalities must make drawn plans and strictly adhere to them in order to avoid the
construction of slums. In rural areas, it is imperative to support villages(Imidugudu)
which allow the creation of farm land.
Disaster also may be categorized as rapid or slow onset.
b. Categories of Disasters depending on the speed of their onset(time):

Rapid on-set disasters Slow on-set disasters

• Volcanic eruptions • Drought
• Earthquakes • Famines
• Floods • Diseases
• Epidemics/epizootics • Weed infection
• Wild fires • Desertification
• Lightning/Thunderstorms • Soil erosion
• Landslides • Environmental degradation
• Hail stones

3.WHAT IS DISASTER MANAGEMENT?

Disaster management also known as emergency management can be defined as
discipline which deals with avoiding risks,by preparing for disaster before it happens
disaster response as well as supporting, and rebuilding society after a disaster is
occurred(isdr,2007,http://Wikipedia.org).This means a continuous and integrated multi-
sectorial, multidisciplinary process of planning, and implementation of measures,aimed
at :
• preventing or reducing the risk of disasters;
• mitigating the severity or consequences of disasters;
• emergency preparedness;
• a rapid and effective response to disasters,and
• post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation.

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4.DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE
Disaster Management cycle includes the total of all activities, programs and measures
which can be taken up before, during and after a disaster with the purpose to avoid
a disaster ,reduce its impacts or recover from its losses. The three key stages of
activities that are taken up within disaster risk management are:

 Pre-Disaster Risk Reduction (before the occurrence)

 Emergency/Disaster Impact (during the occurrence)
 Post-Disaster Recovery Phase(after the occurrence)

In diagrammatic form the disaster management cycle can be set out as follow:

The emphasis of disaster management has now shifted from the post–disaster recovery
phase to the pre-disaster risk reduction phase.

4.1.Pre-disaster reduction phase

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 a. Prevention / mitigation

These are the efforts that attempt to prevent hazards from developing into disasters
altogether,or to reduce the effects when they occur.
This is a sustained action to reduce or eliminate risk to people and property from
hazards and their effects.
Some measures to prevent disasters.

 Physical measures:
-strong construction and engineering works
-Land zoning(physical planning measures) and terracing
-Building codes
-Keeping high density population away from hazards proximity
-Regulating land-use
-etc.

 Economic Measures:
-Diversifying the source of income(because when one fails, the other survives)
-Consider insurance cover and regulations
-Economic incentives e.g. Agricultural inputs etc…

NB: All the people must be aware of the danger of disasters and how to prevent them.

b.Preparedness
This means the development of action plans applicable when a disaster strikes.
It can best be defined as a state of readiness to respond to a disaster, crisis or any
other type of emergency situation. Preparedness comprises activities designed to
minimize loss of life and damage by temporary removal of people from a threatened
location, etc.
No emergency management organization can function without a strong preparedness
capacity. This capability is built through preparedness strategy which is based on the
following :
-Having integrated disaster plans
-Building of resource base
-Training of personal in anticipation of future disaster
-Having disaster organization at all levels
-Risk assessment
-Information system

4.2.Post-disaster recovery phase

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 b. Response
Response: the initial response is normally provided by the statutory emergency services
of a local authority. It is mobilization of services and first responders in the disaster
area.
The basic objectives of the response will be to:
- save life(survival of maximum number of people);
-Prevent escalation of the event;
-Protecting property or environment;
-Dealing with immediate damage:

The measures entail:

 Rapid assessment of damage /infrastructure

 What is immediately required
 Evacuation procedures
 Search and rescue
 Relief to meet basic survival needs such as shelter, food, water, medical care
 First aid and medical cover
 Counseling services

d. Recovery
Recovery: Restore the affected area to its previous state.
It can be defined as all activities that apply to get the affected community and the
nation at large back to normal.
This process involves: Relief supply, rehabilitation, reconstruction(full restoration of all
services),medical and counseling services, restoration.
It involves decisions and actions relative to rebuilding homes, replacing properties,
resuming employment, restoring businesses, and permanently repairing and
rebuilding infrastructure.

5.MAJOR DISASTERS IN RWANDA

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There are disasters which occur fluently seasonally in many regions of RWANDA
according to its relief such as floods,landslides,all related to heavy rain that may be
accompanied by strong wind and thunderstormsand others which occur occasionally
because of man activities or natural reasons like drought, fire,epidemics, different
accidents…

a. Floods

Floods can be defined as a large amount of water that covers an area that was dry
before.It can also be defined as a state of high water level along a river channel or on
the coast that leads to inundation of land, which is not usually submerged.

Causes of flood
-Heavy rain
-ground conditions
-Heavy siltation of the river bed reduces the water carrying capacity of the rivers/stream
-Blockage in the drains lead to flooding of the area.
-Landslides blocking the flow of the stream
-Construction of dams and reservoirs.
-Location of settlement in the flood plains
-Cultivation of crops along slopes adjacent to the floodplains,causing massive erosion
and destruction of trees in the catchments.
-Lack of awareness of the flood hazard by local communities
-degree of saturation of the soil
-Where the capacity of the soil to absorb water is reduced due to erosion.
-Poor building materials leading to non-resistant structures and foundations that cannot
withstand the running waters.
-High risk infrastructure.

Economic and social impacts of floods on the regions affected

-Deaths of people and animals
-Structural damage to buildings,roads,and land ingeneral causing massive erosion
-Possible outbreak of diseases like malaria,cholera,dysentery,etc. due to presence of
mosquitoes and contamination of water sources by the floodwaters.
-Contamination of wells and ground water which is the major source of drinking water by
most rural communities.
-Loss of harvests and crops in farms,loss of food stocks,supplies and produce from
farms.
How to prevent flood?

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-The first measure to prevent it is to settle in the safe and valuable place which is not at
risk of flooding (not building on an active flood plain)
-Reduce flooding by building dams and levees in flood-prone area.
-To be sure that there is any substance that can block the storm drain.
-If all else fail,you should put down sand bags in front of your house to prevent the water
from coming in.
When a flood threat or it has occurred, here is how you behave properly:

 Move to a safe place that is not at risk of flooding

 Follow instructions from authorities
 Inform neighbors
 Keep important contacts or important phone numbers handily
 Close doors and windows
.
NB:As floods are considered natural phenomena, it will be best to use insurance to
cover property damage.

b. Landslides

What is landslide?
Landslide is a heavy fall of earth and rocks down the side of a mountain.
Landslides are described as the downward movement of soil and rocks resulting from
naturally occurring vibrations, changes in water content,removal of lateral
support,loading weight and weathering or human manipulation of water courses and the
composition of the slope.

Causes of landslides
 Population pressure and settlements built on steep slopes,on mouths of streams
from mountain valleys.
 Exploitation of the environment for economic reasons
 Construction of roads,communication lines in mountain areas.
 Environmental degradation
 Buildings with weak foundations
 Buried pipelines and brittle pipes
 Lack of enforcement of the physical planning act allowing people to build in high
–risk areas
 Ignorance of the hazard itself.

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Impacts of landslides to the affected regions
Landslides cause property damage,injury,death,and adversary affect a variety of
resources.The negative economic effects of landslides include the cost to repair
structures,loss of property value,disruption of transportation routes,medical costs in the
event of injury.Water availability,quantity,and quality can be affected by landslides.
How to prevent effects from landslides?
-To avoid building on steep slopes or close to edge of mountain
-Don’t build near drainage ways or natural erosion valleys
-Beware of steep slopes.

c. Drought

It is a long period of time when there is little or no rain. It can be natural or manmade
Drought led to the famine which is a serious lack of food that causes many people to
become ill or to die.
How can drought be prevented?
It is very difficult to prevent drought, usually because there are caused by lack of rainfall
which is beyond our control. However, you can:
-Saving rain water in a proper way to be used later.
-Planting trees and stopping de-forestation
-Stop clearing forests for agricultural and economic purposes
-Protect underground water resources
-Recycle water(use and re-use)
- Keeping water from rain and use it to irrigate fields.
- Cultivate crops or other plants which grow in a short period
- etc.

d. Fire

Fire can attack forest (wildfire), different buildings, vehicles, petrol station sand an
aircraft.
In general, fire is manmade disaster.

Some definitions
 Fire can be defined as a state of combustion producing heat, flames and heat
and smoke from something which is burning in an uncontrolled way.
 Fire extinguisher: is a metal container that is filled with water or with chemical
products that stop fires.
 Fire brigade: the organization whose job is dealing with fires in a particular area.

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  Firefighter: someone whose job is to stop fires burning, and to help people to
escape from other dangerous situations.
 Fire engine: a large vehicle that takes firefighters and their equipment to a fire.
 Fire escape: a metal staircase on the outside of a building that people use to get
out of the building when there is a fire.

Fire fighting and prevention

Classification of fire according to object burned.
a. Gases i.e. Butane etc.
b. Solids. i.e. Wood paper etc.
c. Metal –different types
d. Liquids such as petrol, kerosene, etc.
e. Electrical fires.

How can we extinguish fire?

Fire can be extinguished in different manner according to their origin as it is shown in
the following table:

Origin of fire Extinguishing agents

a) solids Water or powder
b) liquids foam
c) gases CO2(carbon dioxide)
d) metals Water for cooling/powder or CO2

Methods of extinguishing fires

1.Cooling-Limits heat
2.Starvation-Limits
3.Smothering or blanketing-Limits O2
e. Epidemics
It is a situation in which a disease spreads very quickly and infects a lot of people,
animals and plants. There are natural diseases such as Ebola, but there are others
caused by poor cleaning, example: diarrhea, dysentery, cholera...and by mosquitoes
such as malaria. The most of these epidemics are caused by man and can be
prevented.

The way to prevent are the following:

-Wash hands before and after eating.

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-General cleaning such as use clean water, clean our bodies, our clothes, our houses
and our surrounding.
-vaccination of people and animals
-to plant selected seeds and practice of modern agriculture
-use of quarantine during the epidemics (for person and animals)
-take medicament at time

f.Strong winds, snow, thunderstormsand lightning.

There are natural and it is difficult to prevent them, but it is good to plant forests in order
to regularize the speed of wind.
HOW TO BEHAVE DURING THUNDERSTORM?
When you are outside a building:
 Put yourself in the shelter of a building or vehicle. Vehicle bodywork full metal offer
the highest level of security.
 Get off your bike or motorcycle and walk away with.
 Avoid open spaces, hills and steep slopes.
 Stay in the woods, but stay away from the edge, clearings and isolated trees.
 Do not lie on the floor. Sit in a squatting position, tighten the legs and keep your
arms against your body. Go ahead and do not touch the ground with other parts of
your body. This reduces the risk that the current induced by lightning through your
body.
 Do not stay in the water.
 Do not touch any object that could conduct electricity, such as a metal ladder, wire
ropes or rock walls wet.
 Do not leave protrude above your head (ski, ski pole or hiking, etc). If you increase
the likelihood of being struck by lightning.
 Inform your family or friends where you are (your location).

When you are inside a building:

 Do not bath or shower during a thunderstorm.
 Do not use electrical appliances if your building is not protected against lightning
as prescribed (proper grounding of electrical outlets). The danger of death is
real.
 Do not use the elevator during a lightning storm and may remain blocked after a
power failure.
 Keep blinds and shutters against damage caused by the storm.

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  Do not stand near an open window.
 Close doors and windows.

g. Earthquake:

It is a sudden movement of the ground, often causing a lot of damage to buildings,

death to man, etc.
Earthquake usually takes place along geological faults or in volcanic areas.
Earthquake is disastrous only when it affects people and their properties.
It is a situation in which a disease spreads very quickly and infects a lot of people
animals and plants.
It can’t be prevented because it is natural but we can reduce its impacts to man and his
properties by leaving the area expected to be near from epicenter before the occurrence
and by building houses which can resist to earthquakes (using appropriate materials
which are not heavy,not easy to be destroyed,..).

h.Volcanic eruption
Parc National Des Volcans (PNV) is part of the Virunga Conservation Area and covers
more than 125 km². PNV is home of five Virunga volcanoes: the Karisimbi, the highest
volcano with an altitude of 4.507 Muhabura (4.127 m), SabyinyoBisoke (3711 m), (3.674
m), and Gahinga (3.474 m). All these Rwandan volcanoes are extinct.However there
are two neighboring volcanoes which are still active and erupted recently, that is;
Nyiragongo erupted in January 2002 and Nyamulagira in July 2002. They located in
Congo. Rwandan especially the area close to that side must be careful.

Effects of volcanoes

-Fast lava can kill people, animals, and moving and falling ash make hard for them to
breathe
-People can die from famine, fire, and earthquake related to volcanic eruption.
-They lose their possessions as volcanoes can destroy houses, roads, and fields.
-Volcanoes can change the weather and have long-term effects on climate.

Can we predicting if volcanoes is going to erupt

-Seismologists specialize in volcanoes .They are getting better at predicting volcanoes.

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-They also look at the change in the gases come out of volcanic mountain.
-Bizarrely, animals often seem to be able to detect when an eruption is coming and they
become agitated and worried.

How to behave after predicting volcanoes?

-To evacuate the area prone to volcanic eruption as quickly as possible to reduce the
number of damage.

-The local authorities must help people in awareness and in evacuation.

i.Different accidents
These are manmade and are the different types such as road accidents, industrial
accidents, mining accidents, shipwreck, etc. .Accidents can be prevented by man in
different sectors, examples: following highway code, following mining regulation,
building houses with standards materials, etc.

Conclusion
Disasters may occur suddenly at any time or they may develop over a period of time.
It is undeniable that emergency management is integral to the security of our daily lives
and as such it should be integrated into our daily decisions rather than being called
upon only in response to major disasters.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.Thedefinition,Problem,Terminologyandphases by NN MUNYI,
National Disaster Operational Center Kenya.

2.http: Effects of Disasters in Rwanda. National Disaster Management

Center, MININTER 2010

3. Rwanda’s vision 2020/EDPRS, National Development Planning and

Research. Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

4.http:/www.youtube.com/watch?effects of volcanoes and predicting

5.http:/www.abacusvacations.com/rwanda8.html

6.Republic of Rwanda, Ministry of Internal Security, Disaster

Management.

7.http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: Volcanoes of Rwanda.

8.http;//en.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/List of Volcanoes in Rwanda

9.http://wiki.answers.com.Q/what are doing to prevent drought?

10.http://www.unisdr.org/eng/country-inform/reports/Rwanda-report-pdf

11.http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/category: Disaster in Rwanda

12.http://.answers.yahoo.com/questions/index? How do we prevent

flooding?

13.http://www.ecosociosystemes.fr/foudre.htm/

14.Macmillan School Dictionary.

15. Political Education for Secondary School. Book 2.

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16. Hyogo Framework for Action

17. Draft Report on Disaster Preparedness Plan.

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