Disaster Management : What Can We learn from Mount Nyiragongo?
Mount Nyiragongo is located East in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its one of the most dangerous mountains due its active volcanic activities. Currently, there have been reported cases of tremors, earthquake and volcanic eruptions. The 1,500-foot-high volcano has already claimed 31 lives. Property and natural resources have also been not been spared. Around 400,000 people have been evacuated from the hot spots.
From Mount Nyiragongo, We Can Learn the importance of Disaster Management.
Although its an old topic, disaster management is very key in protecting lives and livelihoods.
Disaster management cycle is divided into five stages of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
The five stages are all important and in the case of Mount Nyiragongo, monitoring the mountain by experts is part of prevention. Monitoring assist in disseminating early warning to relevant stakeholders.Evacuating residents living around the hotspots on time can be evidence of mitigation. Preparedness is an ongoing process in which individuals, communities, businesses and organizations can plan and train for what they’ll do in the event of a disaster. Response is what happens after the disaster occurs. It involves both short- and long-term responses. It involves coordination of resources to help restore safety. Recovery can take a long time and helps people to go bounce back to normalcy.
Although it is not the first time for the eruption to occur, it is clear disaster management is not strong and unless there is political goodwill, the situation might worsen. Building capacity of relevant stakeholders is key especially setting up a contingency plan that can be activated for a coordinated response.
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