Changing Climate: Assessment of Community and Household Preparedness in Flood Affected Areas of Lagos

BACKGROUND Flooding is the most common type of major disaster and a leading cause of ‘natural disasters' deaths worldwide, responsible for 6.8 million deaths in the 20th century. The risks of future flood events in Lagos Nigeria are enormous considering its dense population; proximity to coastlines; increasing development of coastal areas; environmental degradation and climate change. Comprehensive disaster preparedness must be integrated and inclusive of preparedness at the community level through creation of functional groups with capacities for organization, education and linkage to national disaster management system. The study therefore assessed current community and household disaster preparedness in areas of Lagos State affected by flood disasters in the last 3years. METHODS This was a community-based cross sectional study carried out in 6(six) Local Government Areas (LGAs)/Local Council Development Authority (LCDAs) affected by floods in Lagos State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 622 households from the selected LGAs. Households of communities affected by flood from 2011 were surveyed with a semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire and a focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted among representatives of affected communities. The questionnaire was used to obtain information on: socio-demographic information, health outcomes and household disaster preparedness using a validated modified questionnaire. The FGD guide was used explore the existing inter-relationship among households, communities, local government and non-governmental organizations towards flood disaster preparedness .Using 14 questions scored 1points each, preparedness was measured in four categories of not prepared; poorly prepared ; mildly prepared and moderately prepared.

RESULT About half(45.2%) of all households surveyed has experienced at least one disaster. 4.0% had no preparedness plan; 77.8% had poor emergency preparedness; 15.4% mildly prepared, while 2.7% of households were moderately prepared. Of all households that experienced flood disasters, 10% had any form of injury, 18.8% had at least one health symptom and 20.6% had depression with varying severity(mild, moderate, severe). Among moderately prepared households, 23.5% reported any form of injury compared to 15.6% among mildly prepared and 8.1% among poorly prepared (p=0.02). 41.7% of the moderately prepared had depression with varying severity compared to 28.6% among mildly prepared and 18% among poorly prepared (p=0.038). 35.3% of moderately prepared households reported at least one health symptom compared to 30.2% among mildly prepared households and 16.3% among poorly prepared households (p=0.03).

Analysis of the FGD showed that there is a general resignation to fate regarding disaster preparedness due to ignorance; poverty and disconnect between communities and local governments.

CONCLUSION The study revealed that adverse health outcomes of flood disaster are considerable. There is generally no adequate preparedness plan at the household and community level. However, households that reported more health outcomes from previous flood disaster experience were better prepared. Because these findings have implication for disaster risks reduction, communities must be mobilized and empowered to improve awareness and promote self-help initiatives using local resources. Also, households found to be better prepared can be engaged as community change agents to incorporate lessons from previous disaster incidents into future preparedness plans.