Flooding in Bhittamore, India (2019): Response to the pandemic should be prioritized, but we also need to prepare for the approaching monsoon in light of the added risks and challenges at this time. (Photo: Ranjeet Jha, caretaker)

“The Terai region of Nepal is reporting new cases of COVID-19 with each passing day, and the local government and community are focused on containing this devastating pandemic which is impacting the lives and livelihoods of local communities. To make matters worse, the floods will be at our doorsteps in a month or so,” says Mahendra Karki, caretaker of the community based flood early warning system (CBFEWS) in Lalgarh, Ratu River, Nepal.

National and local/provincial governments in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region have prioritized public safety measures such as social distancing and lockdown to deal with this pandemic. These measures have their cascading impacts, and governments are devising strategies to address their fallout, especially with regard to stimulating economic recovery and providing livelihood security to local communities.  However, there is a seasonal disaster lurking around the corner – the annual monsoon floods in the numerous Himalayan rivers and tributaries. This presents additional challenges of managing disaster preparedness and response amid this pandemic.

Preparing for the flood

The pre-monsoon period is usually a time for flood preparedness activities involving local communities – mock drills, stockpiling of food and emergency supplies, ensuring the availability of suitable shelter and sanitation facilities for women and marginalized groups, maintenance of households and flood infrastructure required for generating and disseminating early warning, and reviewing rescue and relief protocols. This is also the time when community based early warning systems (CBFEWS) are maintained to ensure that they function during an event. This year, the critical care and attention demanded by the COVID-19 crisis has put these activities on the back-burner. This presents a grave dilemma: communities find themselves even more vulnerable, especially in a context where social distancing is a prevailing norm. This could impact on evacuation and shelter during a flood event, potentially also creating additional challenges for women and socially marginalized groups. Health facilities, already stretched to deal with the pandemic, could come under further strain as water-borne diseases spread. All this has the potential to create double trouble for the most vulnerable.

A normal monsoon

The South Asian Seasonal Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF-16) has predicted a normal monsoon for South Asia, which is anticipated to account for around 75-90% of the annual rainfall between June–September this year. Whether or not a normal monsoon will include extreme events has become increasingly difficult to predict, so the potential for seasonal floods or localized flood events cannot be ruled out. Floods result in massive displacement and loss of lives and livelihoods and present a huge challenge for communities and local governments each year. Therefore, while we continue to deal with the pandemic as priority, there is a need to keep in mind the approaching monsoon and to review flood preparedness in light of the added risks and challenges at this time.

Below, we list some measures which could help in flood preparedness and response during the pandemic:

Raise awareness about possible flood events

• Use community radio and public announcements to
  • stress the importance of continued personal hygiene and precautions to be taken during flood events
  • urge communities to prepare go-bags with utensils/plates, gloves, masks, soap, and sanitizer (if possible) in preparation for potential flood events
• Share flood-related information like flood bulletins and forecasts among vulnerable communities, civil society and local government through reliable channels and in local language/s

Infrastructure provisions

• Prepare temporary shelters for example schools and colleges where social distancing measures may be possible to maintain or where it may be possible to establish quarantine areas for possible COVID-19 cases during floods.
• Ensure access to clean water for sanitation and hygiene
• Create job opportunities to build and maintain shelters, eco toilets, and raised hand pumps for disaster preparedness
• Establish support networks for providing food and financial relief for flood-affected communities

Maintenance of flood warning instruments, where present

• Keep CBFEWS instruments in good operating condition. Conduct repair and maintenance of instruments well before the flood season to test the relay of information and warning of floods both at the site and for downstream areas

Update data and communication channels

• Test and update communication channels and protocols, like mobile, SMS, WhatsApp and other web applications for flood information dissemination as widely as possible, ensuring that the flood alerts reach vulnerable groups like the elderly, women and differently abled persons in the community
• Update authorities about any COVID-19 concerns especially in flood prone communities, to ensure adequate precautions during relief and rescue operations
• Enhance capacity for rapid response mapping, incorporating GIS data for locations of hospitals and health centres, schools, colleges, and other community facilities, and increase connectivity for relay of vital information

Institutionalization

• Integrate flood-hazarddata at the local level to inform disaster preparedness and response strategies for the monsoon planning
• Revisit the annual district disaster management (DDM) plan considering multi-hazard situation and lessons learnt from this pandemic in similar contexts
• Revisit the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for managing flood shelters with the participation of communities
• Form multiple-hazard response teams with wide-ranging expertise and the capacity to respond rapidly to the combined disaster of floods and COVID-19
• Work with government institutions, local health workers, community based organizations and non-governmental organizations for the different stages of preparedness and response and ensure appropriate decentralization and delegation to increase efficiency

Note: The suggested measures have been compiled based on interactions with individuals and partners working on CBFEWS in ICIMOD’s project sites. For more information, please contact neera.pradhan@icimod.org

Neera Shrestha Pradhan

Nishikant Gupta

Kanchan Shrestha

Shailendra Shakya

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