LCG-DER Meeting

10 July 2014

Flood / Monsoon Preparedness 2014

Department of Disaster Management Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief

Introduction

Floods are normal events in the deltaic plains of Bangladesh. On average, nearly 18% of the country becomes flooded each year.

During severe floods the affected area may exceed 65% of the country, as was seen in 1998.

The runoff from GBM catchments of 1.72 million sq. km. passes through the river systems of Bangladesh of which only 7% lies within the country

GBM basin and Bangladesh

Ganges Basin1,087,000 sq. km

Brahmaputra Basin552,000 sq. km

Meghna Basin82,000 sq. km

Types of Flooding in Bangladesh

Flash floods – in the hilly South East region and Haor basin of North East

River Floods – known as monsoon flood

Rain-fed floods – mainly in south-west and major urban areas e.g. Chittagong, Dhaka etc.

Coastal Floods – during the cyclone and tropical storms in coastal belt

Flooding in Bangladesh

Flood Prone Areas in Bangladesh

2014 Flood Preparedness by GOB and other stakeholders

Government of Bangladesh

Flood Response Preparedness Planning

Pre-positioning of relief items

Local level flood preparedness by DMCs

SOS and D-Form training of DMCs

Other stakeholders

Humanitarian Clusters’ Contingency planning

Pre-positioning of relief items by UN, IFRC/BDRCS, I/NGOs

Flood Response Preparedness Plan

Since 2013, DDM is leading the process of developing comprehensive Flood Response Preparedness Plan (with Technical Support from UNDP-ERF)

2014 Flood Response Preparedness Plan is being finalized (stakeholder consultation 8 July 2014)

The overall OBJECTIVE of the Flood Response Preparedness Plan is to strengthen the existing capacity of the GOB to lead and ensure an effective, timely, and coordinated response that will mitigate the risks and reduce the impact of disaster on the vulnerable communities.

Flood Response Preparedness Plan 2014

The plan includes the following sections:

i. Back ground & Disaster Management System

ii. Flood hazard and Risk Analysis

iii. Flood forecasting and Warning System

iv. Information Management

v. Pre-positioning of Relief Items (GOB & non- government)

vi. Local Level Flood Response Preparedness (by DMCs)

vii.Resource Mobilization Strategy (GOB and non-government)

Flood Forecasting and Early Warning Capacity

Existing early warning on floods provides a lead time of 24, 48 and 72 hours

Increase of Flood Forecast Lead Time up to 5 days

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for flood early warning dissemination

CDMP Supported Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BDM) in strengthening Early Warning Capacity, development of Weather Radio System and Enhancement of Application of Agro-Advisory Expert System

CDMP is currently piloting Flood Preparedness Programme in Gaibandha and Sirajgonj districts

Thank You