Disaster Mapping Reduces Risk

Disaster Mapping Reduces Risk

The level of losses caused by natural disasters throughout the world has increased considerably over recent years, bringing great hardship to many communities. The disaster risks in one area can also threaten neighboring areas.

The planet’s increasing vulnerability to disasters is also related to population growth, progress in technology and socio-economics, environmental damage, climate change, geological hazards, disease, etc. In the past decade, every year at least 200 million people worldwide were affected by disasters.

The good news is that people’s knowledge and awareness of the urgent need for disaster preparedness is developing. Many communities are increasingly improving their capacity to respond to disasters. Various agencies have introduced and implemented disaster preparedness concept in many places in Indonesia. The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) is carrying out the Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) programme. CBDP’s planning and activities are systematically combining with local government’s programmes and policies.

One of the results of this cooperation was a coordination meeting on flood and landslide anticipation and mitigation on April 28, 2006, involving several government departments and agencies. They considered the need to research flash floods in several areas and henceforth of Indonesia’s potential flash flood areas.

Throught the CBDP programme, PMI has been carrying out village risk mapping. The PMI volunteers at the village level work together with the community to identify the risks facing their village and how to deal with them.

Basic data which is collected and analyzed includes a history of prevalent disasters, a seasonal calendar, common diseases and outhbreaks of disease, the community’s livelihoods, water source, etc.

Village risk mapping is an important part of disaster preparedness measures. The results is a map that depicts the natural features around us, such as rivers, wells, lakes, hills, mountains, plains, gardens, forests, etc. Important building infrastructure is also depicted, houses of worship, fire stations, police stations, village hall, etc.

The map also shows the specific locations of places that are susceptible to being hit by disasters such as storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, volcanic eruptions, landslides, fires and other hazards, related both man-made and natural disasters.

The mapping process should involve all segments of the community, across gender, age and social divides. Each community member, even children, could share their opinions and knowledge regarding the situation. In facts, children in some areas know more than adults about their village as it are their playground. Individuals with specific skills and education in various professions will also very useful in the production of the map.

With better knowledge of hazards, we will know more about potential risks. So let’s map disasters together to reduce the risks.