The Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Team of World Vision, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) was on Thursday briefed on the extent of damage caused by floods in the Talensi-Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
Talensi-Nabdam is one of the areas in the Region where World Vision has its Area Development Programmes (ADP) and as part of its ADP, the NGO is collaborating with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to form Disaster Management Task Forces (DMTFs) whose function is to sensitize people in disaster-prone areas on how to survive floods.
Briefing the Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Team of World Vision led by the Director, Mr. Ebenezer Okoampa, the leadership of the DMTFs said but for the formation and capacity building programmes, the damage caused by the floods would have been more devastating this year.
The DMTF leaders indicated that about 380 hectares of farmland were submerged in flood waters. These included 130 hectares of Maize, 90 hectares of Sorghum, 66 hectares of Soya Beans, 20 hectares of Rice, 10 hectares of Water melon, four hectares of Cassava, and 60 hectares of Groundnuts.
They also stated that about 641 animals including 310 Fowls, 251 Guinea Fowls, 30 Goats and 50 Sheep were washed away.
They however indicated that no deaths were recorded through the flood, and attributed that to the sensitization programmes.
"Through the capacity building on Disaster management and control we are able to monitor the surging waters and inform the community members about the likelihood of flooding," the leaderships of DMTFs emphasized.
Mr. Okoampa and his team visited some of the affected areas including, Santeng, Yindure and Pwalugu communities, all in the Talensi-Nabdam District, and sympathized with the flood victims. He commended the DMTFs for their efforts in educating the people on disaster issues, and urged them to continue with the good work.
He said World Vision regarded disaster issues as very important because of the severe repercussions they often have on affected communities, and appealed to both public and private organizations to incorporate disaster management into their action plans.
The Programme Manager of ADP in charge of the Talensi-Nabdam District, Mr. Norbert Baba Akolbila, noted that since the floods in the region had become ritual there was the need for people, especially those in flood prone areas, to be educated and sensitized about the need to desist from building on water ways.
He said his outfit would continue to provide capacity building programmes to equip people with knowledge about managing and reducing the effects of disasters in the District and the Region as whole.
He said World Vision had been supporting people affected by floods in the Region for sometime now, citing that when floods hit the Region in 2007, World Vision supported a lot of people with relief items including building materials.
Members of the affected communities appealed to World Vision and other relief agencies to come to their aid.