BUSIA, Kenya Feb 24 – The Kenya Red Cross Society has plans to conduct a disaster simulation exercise in Busia County.
Speaking to stakeholders at Busia Agricultural Training Centre on Thursday, The Kenya Red Cross Disaster Officer Pater Murgor explained that the exercise is a test on how people can be helped to take action before they are affected by floods.
“The simulation exercise itself is a test that needs to be understood that it is not about giving items to affected people but doing a test on how we can help people to take action before they are affected,” he explained.
Murgor pointed out that Bunyala Sub County is the most affected by floods hence the need to test some of the protocols that have been set by the organization.
“The protocol detailed a lot of risk analysis from our data department and after analysis the department is now trying to see its prioritized actions on the five impact areas including loss of lives, displacement of persons, outbreak of water borne diseases, vector borne diseases and destroyed infrastructure,” he said.
He further said that the whole idea was to have a stakeholder engagement forum led by the County Commissioner so that they have a multi-agency approach to handling the flood menace.
The official at the same time disclosed that his team is looking at a place which is not affected by floods currently but the risk of being prone to floods are very high.
“One of the areas we have seen is Bunyala East and we will be working closely with the Deputy County Commissioner from Bunyala to identify a small location where we can carry out this test,” he said.
He noted that the exercise is like a mock exercise where all partners can be able to prepare a plan on how to be able to respond better, carry out contingency test on existing communication structures, information sharing platforms and how people respond to early warning messages.
Murgor disclosed that they are looking forward to carrying out the exercise between March 7 to March 21 this year.
He added that the exercise scheduled to be carried out within the next 14 days is aimed at finding out whether the County has the necessary mechanisms in place to prepare and respond early.
“Also, we will be able to know whether the information mechanisms are working well for the communities and see how communities respond to early action and if they are able to move before disaster strikes,” he said.
The Kenya Red Cross Disaster Manager Venant Digila said that their presence in Busia is part of the larger effort in supporting disaster preparedness in the country.
Digila noted that Busia County has been experiencing floods in a cyclic way over the years and the organization has been supporting flood victims over the years.
“However, we need to improve by applying a disaster risk management approach by involving communities in participating in preparedness by carrying out early action plans in response to emergencies,” he said.
Busia County Commissioner Dr Ahmed Omar said that the simulation exercise will steer the County one step ahead.
