Togo's flood preparations underway as first storms hit

AllAfrica.com via IRIN: Battered by rainstorms in the north in 2007 and the south in 2008, Togo is bracing for even more severe flood damage in 2009, disaster relief officials in the country told IRIN. "These predictions have already been confirmed with the first storms," said the head of Togo's Red Cross catastrophe preparation and relief programme, Victor Sodogas. He told IRIN violent winds on 18 and 19 April "ravaged" rooftops in five localities in the interior, while residents in the Nyékonapkoé neighbourhood of the capital Lomé woke up to flooding in their homes one week later. "No lives were lost and damages were minor, but it [the rainy season] has arrived."

He said the Red Cross in April trained more than 400 volunteers to be deployed to the three most flood-prone areas: northern savannah and southern coastal and plateau regions. Fifty of the volunteers can also be deployed to other areas as needed. Training included teaching flood prevention, conducting a census and providing assistance after a flood. Sodogas told IRIN Red Cross has installed an early warning system in five villages in flood-prone zones of the coastal region.

…Last year's flooding killed at least nine people and displaced more than 10,000, according to the government; the displaced estimate is several times lower than some relief groups' figures. "Because of lack of coordination between different intervention services, we could not calculate exact damages," said Ministry of Civilian Protection director Kpatcha Afeignidou….