Consultation workshop on Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) concludes with Flood Hotspots areas identified in Volcanoes Region
The two days’ workshop with districts, sector levels and village leaders in Musanze, Rubavu, Nyabihu and Burera District was convened from 18th to 19th July 2023 at Classic Lodge in Musanze District. The aim of the workshop was to engage the communities in the implementation of Flood Early Warning System (FEWS), identify flood hotspots areas and collect expectations and needs of communities living in Volcanoes region.
The workshop was part of a big project titled “Volcanoes Community Resilience Project” that will be implemented in Musanze, Burera, Gakenke, Rubavu, Rutsiro, Nyabihu, Ngororero and Muhanga districts with the objective of strengthening climate resilience, reducing the risks of flooding, and improving the management of natural resources and tourism assets in the Volcanoes Region of Rwanda. Under this project, one subcomponent Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) will be implemented by Rwanda Meteorology Agency (METEO RWANDA) as a leading institution, the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) and the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB).
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Twahirwa Anthony, the Division Manager of Weather/Climate Services and Applications at METEO RWANDA noted that flood is a hydro-meteorological related hazard of great concern in volcanoes region. He noted that there have been mechanisms to share warning information on extreme weather but which need to be further enhanced to reduce losses from flooding in this region. He said that this workshop will build from existing early warning mechanisms to identify gaps which will be addressed in the designing of the Flood Early Warning that shall be jointly implemented by METEO RWANDA, MINEMA and Rwanda Water Resources Board.
During the consultation workshop, participants identified several flood hotspots in Musanze, Nyabihu, Rubavu and Burera districts, their locations, elements at risk, flood frequency and rainfall seasons in which they occur. They also indicated possible root causes of flooding and possible solutions.
Mr. Turikunkiko Blaise, District Disaster Management Officer in Burera district said that they are optimistic that the interventions of VCRP will help significantly in tackling flood issues in volcanic areas. He noted that even though they cannot say that all flood hotspots were identified, but clear interventions on identified flood hotspots will be impactful in building a resilient community.
Key proposed solutions on flooding include but not limited to: implementing soil erosion control measures, relocating households in high-risk zones, rain water harvesting, putting in place proper water channeling, establishing flood early warning system that can timely provide information in case of flooding is expected in certain areas and alert citizens in case of flooding, raising citizens’ awareness on disaster risk mitigation among others.
VCRP Project will be implemented by the Government of Rwanda (GoR) through MINEMA, Meteo-Rwanda, RWB, RDB, RFA, REMA and RHA, under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment under the financial support from the World Bank and other development partners including the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and the European Investment Bank.