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AN
ASSESSMENT OF THE CAUSES AND HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF FLOOD DISASTER ON HEALTH
AND DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
African
countries have been identified as amongst the most vulnerable places in the
world due to climate change and climate variability, anthropogenic activities
are a contributory cause to the extreme rise in global atmospheric temperature
and the resulting climate change phenomena (IPCC{intergovernmental panel on
climate change}, 2007). Flooding disaster is when a place that is normally dry
becomes filled or covered with water (Oxford advanced learner dictionary). The
main characteristics of these changes in climate are the increases in the
average global temperature (global warming), changes in cloud cover and
precipitation particularly over land; melting of ice caps and glaciers and
reduced snow cover (UNFCC{united nation framework convention on climate change},
2007).
In cities,
these effects make communities vulnerable to climate change. In other words,
climate change becomes a global threat to human survival. It is therefore
imperative that, national and local governments take the necessary steps to ensure
that the degree of vulnerability emanating from climate change and its
associated risks are significantly reduced. Flooding has serious effects on the
social, economic, environmental, physical and psychological wellbeing of people
and even on the political and institutional levels of a country.
It is
therefore, urgent that the vulnerability of developing countries to climate
change is reduced and their capacity to adapt is increased at national,
regional and community levels (UNFCCC, 2007). General climate changes (measured
by temperature, precipitation, and number of rain days per year) show a
positive and significant relationship with flooding and related extreme events.
Flooding is
considered as a primary example of climate change related events in all parts
of the world (IPCC, 2007). It is often argued that the more severe temperature
levels vary, the higher the level of precipitation, and the more rain days per
year the higher the risk of flooding.
Flooding is
considered as one of the most hazardous, frequent and widespread natural
disasters and yet, floods seem to be part of the lives of some communities in
the world (Lawford et al, 1995; Dar and Nadargi, 2001; Schanze et al, 2006).
Flooding mostly exacts adverse socio-economic impact on the wellbeing of flood
prone communities. It does cause displacement of people, collapse of buildings,
loss of lives, damage to valuable documents, unplanned migration, among others.
Hence, significant information for people living in these flood prone areas is
how often and how severe the flooding may be. According to RICS 2009, “Surface
water (pluvial) flooding, one form of flooding, is closely associated with
intense, often localized, storms that overwhelm the capacity of local drains,
causing flash floods. Pluvial flooding is a characteristic of urban areas where
large areas of impervious ground exist and inadequate drainage systems
abound. Impacts from climate change are
understood to include water scarcity, drought, food shortages, malnutrition,
increased disease vectors, increased storm surges and frequent flooding. For
instance, droughts and floods, such as the African Sahel droughts and major
floods in Mozambique, have caused ‘environmental refugees’ (Action Aid, 2006).
The implications of these problems go far beyond the individual and sometimes
threaten the fragile national economies (Rain et al, 2011). It is imperative to
note that, these new challenges will not only make achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) more difficult, but could also threaten some of the
progress already made in eradicating extreme poverty and disease. Climate
change is
observed to be exacerbating and disturbing the delicate well-being of people.
Water is critical to life but too much water or water that comes at an unexpected
time or in unexpected places can be a big problem. As temperature and rainfall
intensity increases, the frequency and occurrence of flooding may also increase
(Afeku, 2005). Flooding is described as a relatively high flow of water, which
overflows the natural channel, provided for runoff. Floods are classifiable
according to cause (high rainfall, tidal extremes, structural failure) and
nature (e.g., regularity, speed of onset, velocity and depth of water, spatial
and temporal scale) (Ahern, 2005).
Flooding can
be divided into different categories according to their duration. Slow-Onset
Floods usually last for a relatively longer period; it may last for one or more
weeks, or even months. As this kind of flood last for a long period, it can
lead to lose of stock, damage to agricultural products, roads and rail links.
Rapid-Onset Floods last for a relatively shorter period; they usually last for
one or two days only. Although this kind of flood lasts for a shorter period,
it can cause more damages and pose a greater risk to life and property as
people usually have less time to take preventative action during rapid-onset
floods. Flash Floods may occur within minutes or a few hours after heavy
rainfall, tropical storm, failure of dams or levees or releases of ice jams.
River Floods
are the most common type of flooding. When the actual amount of river flow is
larger than the amount that the channel can hold, river will overflow its banks
and flood the areas alongside the river. The cause may be reasons like snow
melt or heavy spring rain. Besides, flood risks may be further exacerbated by
trends towards urbanization. Hollis (2003) as cited in RICS (2009) reveals
that, more infrastructures such as roads and hard pavement surfaces increase
the problem of urban run-off and thus, the resultant effect of flooding. These
paved surfaces which are mostly seen in urban buildings prevent natural
infiltration unless designed for
this
purpose, hence contributing to urban floods. The type of flooding of interest
to this research is rain and over flowing dam\river induced flooding.
Health
Implication of Flood Disaster.
Related to
sanitation are the health implications. Flooding has a lot of health
implications on the people. Stagnant water breeds insects and mosquitoes thus
causing malaria. People who are directly exposed to flood waters suffer
injuries and sicknesses like skin rashes and fever.
There is an
outbreak of epidemics and diseases such as cold, flu, cholera, pneumonia and
malaria during flooding. The flooding incident brings about an outbreak of
diseases including malaria and diarrhea in the communities. The illnesses are
an additional burden on household expenses; those who cannot afford the medical
bills find themselves in trouble.
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