young men and projects

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods in Zambia. The study was conducted in Lusaka by one LSE411 student at the University of Zambia. The data was collected by interviewing the acting assistant director of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. The results showed that the 2008 floods caused greater damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of human life. About 34 districts were severely affected, leading to the collapsing of more than 20 schools, about 20 deaths; about 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses. The results also showed that the total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage to crop fields, about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season. It was concluded that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude the country has ever recorded leading to the most severe damage in Zambia` s history.

INTRODUCTION

Floods are part of the natural cycle of things. In other words, floods are like any other phenomena. Rubin (1998) argues that global warming due to climate change contributes to the increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods. Floods make an enormous impact on the environment and society. According to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005:6), ˝floods can be defined as flows that overtop the stream balance of a channel spreading out across the flood plain, often causing damage and loss of life. In other words, floods are flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains.

Floods cause damage to infrastructure and may lead to loss of both human and other organisms` life. Floods also bring about infectious diseases such as pneumonic plague, dysentery, break born fever and so on. In cases where buildings are significantly damaged there can be catastrophic effects on the environment as many toxic materials such as paint, pesticides and gasoline can be released into rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, killing marine life. Some places are prone to floods while others are not. According to Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) disasters that are associated with flood hazards in Zambia have been caused by river flooding due to heavy or severe rainfall, sometimes associated with hailstorms which can destroy crops and buildings.

The 2008 floods caused a lot of damage to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, crops and loss to human life. Many districts in the country were affected by severe flooding, especially those in the North western, Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. This report gives an evaluation of the extent of damage caused by the floods during the 2007-2008 rain season. The main objective of the study is to find out the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
The 2008 floods had greater damage to infrastructure (i.e roads, bridges, houses, schools, wells and others), crops and loss to human life.

AIM: To assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.

OBJECTIVES:
-To find out the level of damage on crop fields caused by the 2008 floods.
-To find out whether floods had effects on 2008 food production.
-To assess the damage to infrastructure caused by the floods.
-To find out whether the 2008 floods caused loss of human life.
-To find out whether floods had effects on the Zambian economy.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Studies have been conducted to assess the extent of damage caused by floods in most countries that have experienced flooding. In 2007, Britain experienced floods just like Zambia, which caused a lot of damage in some parts of Britain. Morris (2007) conducted a case study in order to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the floods in Britain. According to Morris (2007), the city of Gloucestershire and the city of Worcestershire recorded the most severe damage. Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million to ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Almost ₤ 3 million was to be spent on repairs to 53 schools in the area. The flooding directly affected 500 businesses and another 15000 suffered after their water supply turned off for a week due to flooding. There were fears that some roads that were seriously damaged would stay shut for the foreseeable future.

In Hull City, where more than 7000 homes were flooded and a man died in a storm drain, the council also counted the cost of the damage to be as high as ₤ 200 million. The situation in Worcestershire looked bleak and there were fears that the county` s flood bill could be in the region of ₤ 5 million to ₤ 10 million- a big chunky of the ₤ 15 million it holds in its reserves. Tourism was severely hit in Worcestershire with two sporting attractions , Worcester Racecourse and New Road County cricket ground, out of action for a season, (Morris, 2007).

The Malvern Hills town of Upton Severn was cut off during the floods and resulted in poor business. It became a ghost town for some weeks. The village of Sandhurst, which stands on the banks of the Severn in Gloucestershire was one of the most isolated areas during the floods and only accessible by boat or aircraft.

Another case study conducted in China after floods in 1998 showed that flooding in a of Jiangxi caused great damage. The economic loss was HK $ 156 billion, 400 building surrounding the lake were inundated leaving more than 1 million people homeless. About 0.23 billion of people were affected in flooding of Xian, China, including 3000 people dead. Another case study conducted in India in 1996 showed that monsoon floods affected more than five million people in the northern and eastern parts of the country, killing some 200 people and left millions homeless and starving, (Robert, 2000).

METHODOLOGY
SUBJECT: The subject interviewed was MR. Mwale the acting assistant director of Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.

INSTRUMENTS: A non scheduled structured interview was used to collect the data.

PROCEDURE: The information or data was collected by going to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit offices, in Lusaka, where the acting assistant director was interviewed. A non scheduled structured interview, note book and pen were used during the interview from the director` s office. The questions were asked and the responses from the acting assistant director were recorded in the note book.

RESULTS

The results were that about 70 percent of the country was affected by the 2008 floods. About 34 districts reported severe damage to crop fields. In terms of loss of human life, records indicated that about 20 deaths were reported as a result of flooding. In terms of infrastructure, the damage was very significant. Most of the affected districts experienced severe damage to bridges as being washed away by thick flows of water. Gwembe, Sinazongwe, Namwala and Siavonga districts had the highest level of damage to bridges.

In sinazongwe more than 50 culverts were washed away and it was estimated that more than K700 million is needed to repair the roads and bridges in Sinazongwe district alone. Namwala , Sinazongwe and Gwembe districts were cut off for weeks due to damage to bridges making the placed un accessible by road during the period. About 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses.

A good number of schools were reported to have collapsed due to high levels of water in the 34 districts affected. More than 20 schools need serious rehabilitation and about K 7.5 billion was estimated as the amount needed to get the affected schools to their normal states. The total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage crop to fields, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) suggested that in the districts affected about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season.

DISCUSSION

From the results obtained it can be argued that the 2008 floods caused significant damage, making the country record the worst damage to infrastructure, loss of human life and damage to crops in Zambia` s history. Given the economic status of the country, the 2008 floods were difficult to handle and added salt to the wound. In other words, the country has been experiencing poor economic performance and the floods made the situation worse. For instance, some districts in the southern province had total damage to crops with zero yields. People were left without food and no houses to sleep in.

As we saw in the literature review, Britain had a similar situation. According to Morris (2007), the City of Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million and ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Britain is a developed country and has the technology required but still felt the impact caused by the floods. When it comes to Zambia the 2008 were very severe such that the impact will continue to be felt even in the few years to come due to the weak economy.

China, according to Robert (2000), had economic loss of HK $ 156 billion, 400 buildings surrounding the lake in the city of Jiangxi were invaded leaving more than 1 million people homeless with 3000 deaths. If these figures were recorded in Zambia it could have been a situation out of hand or uncontrollable by the government. The damage caused by the 2008 floods were severe such that the situation drew the attention of the donor community to come in to give a helping hand. The severity of the floods led to the introduction of new strategies and mitigation measures as the old ones proved to insufficient. The new strategies include capacity building to strengthen resilience amongst communities by training them on preparedness, especially in flood prone areas, also the strategy of early warning by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs and Zambia Meteorological Department to ensure the situation is monitored as it is unfolding. The results showed that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude ever recorded leading to the most severe damage the country has ever experienced.

RECOMMENDATION

In terms of damage to bridges, according to my observation there is need to change the design of most of the bridges. Most of the bridges have low culverts leading to water flowing at a slow pace when passing through the bridges. Because the culverts are very low the sediments accumulate at the bridge on the side the water flows from leading to development of braids at the bridge or blockage to the culverts. When this happens the water remains with only two options, either to flow over the bride making it difficult for road users to cross the bridge or to spread across the flood plain leading to flooding. When the water is blocked at the bridge it starts to erode the walls of the bridge on the sides or banks of a stream or river and in the ultimate the bridge is washed away. This can be minimised or avoided by constructing high bridges or raised culverts so that the water passes freely and faster through the bridge. This would also help prevent flooding, loss of human life and damage to infrastructure.

There is also need to improve the coordination and early warning information sharing to ensure effect response to floods, to ensure timely response and resource mobilization. The other measures that can be put in place include ascertaining the type of assistance likely to be required as a result of the emergency, to identify roles and responsibilities of all partners in the emergency and to reduce secondary risks.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations in this study included lack of time to go in the field to get the real picture on the ground. The other limitation is that the person interviewed was just acting as assistant director but the intended respondent was the director who unfortunately was out of town during the time of interview.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the results showed that the 2008 floods caused severe damage to crops and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, houses, schools and wells, and loss of human life. In the discussion we saw that other countries like China and Britain experienced similar situations as Zambia. We defined floods as flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains. The 2008 floods had significant impacts on the economy due to their severity. The country experienced the highest magnitude of floods and damage by floods.



















REFERENCES

Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) Disaster Management Policy Document, DMMU, Lusaka.

Morris, S (2007) Climate warming raises long term Flood Fears, Cambridge University Press. London.

Rubin, K (1998), Environmental Effects of Floods, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.

Roberts, H. M (2000), Effects of Floods, Prentice, New York.






















APPENDIX

NON SCHEDULED STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
RESPONDENT` S DETAILS
NAME: MR. MWALE
SEX: MALE
POSITION: ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

QUESTIONS
Did your office receive any reports on the damage caused by the 2008 floods?
What kind of damages?
Are able to tell how much damage was caused to crop fields?
How many lives were lost due to the 2008 floods?
How much damage was caused to infrastructure?
How much area of the country was affected by the floods?
Do you think the floods had an impact on the economy of the country?
Compared to other years Zambia experienced flooding, how do you describe the 2008 floods?












THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES





NAME: MIYOBA STANLEY. H. C

COMP: 25049429

COURSE: LSE 411

LECTURER: DR. NAMAFE

TASK: RESEARCH REPORT: An assessment of the extent of the damage caused by the 2008 floods in
Zambia.




TOPIC: FLOODS IN ZAMBIA