Preparing for disaster

16 July 2008

The impact of the tsunami is still visible: concrete buildings remain half submerged and much of the farming land lies immersed in salt water. Nestled between three creeks and a mountain, the village of Sippighat in India has a population of around 20,000 and was a prosperous agricultural community prior to the tsunami.

Disaster risk reduction
Saraswati Narayan during one of her visits to vulnerable community members.
© CARE

Saraswati Narayan, an elected representative of a group of villages including Sippighat, explains: "Due to the tsunami a major part of the agricultural land is now permanently inundated with sea water. I was able to cope with the loss, however many of the people of this village who were well off, have become poor again."

The community of Sippighat is part of a disaster risk reduction project. This community-based disaster preparedness programme run by CARE in India, helps the community to work out what they need to do to prepare and what to do before and during a natural disaster.

Tasks are divided between the people living in the village. Training and mock drills are carried out to ensure that everyone understands what to do, where to go and how to help others in the event of an emergency.

"When the deadly tsunami struck on December 26, there were huge losses of lives; many were wounded, large chunks of the population were made homeless and there was no provision for food and drinking water," says Shusila Devi, a member of the disaster preparedness team of Sippighat. "We wanted to help the people and did it in whatever way we could, but we were not very organised, or informed or prepared."

Geeta Mandal, a Field Officer for CARE, recalls how the project is already showing results: "In December 2007, there was a huge storm impacting many lives and livelihoods in the area; several houses were destroyed and trapped beneath large trees. The community’s search, rescue and damage assessment teams were the first to reach the people trapped in their houses."

Narayan is clear; the aim of being prepared for a disaster is to save the lives of all the community members, to protect property and to minimise the negative impact on the livelihoods of the villagers. "Being a woman, the greatest form of joy is giving birth to a new life. I feel the same kind of joy when I am able to save the life of a person. Through the disaster preparedness programme, I am confident that we will be able to save many lives."