SESSION 5.2: CASE STUDIES EXCERCISE (Tools for integrating protection needs)
CASE STUDY: FLOODING1
November 2006 to April 2007 was an unusually wet period for the country of Lapita,
particularly in the city of Lago with its 15,000 people. On the 1st of April, torrential evening rains
seemed like the usual weather pattern over the past week. However, 10 hours later, it seemed
that the downpour would continue for the next few hours. Lago sits on a riverbank that the
people also use for subsistence. The town’s hospital, schools and most governmental services
are also located near the river. The heavy rains weakened soil structures, and especially in areas
where heavy earth works for housing projects and roads were ongoing, massive landslides
occurred, burying residential areas as well as roads and other infrastructure.
Several fatalities were reported in addition to a large number of wounded persons. Three (out
of four) schools were destroyed and the hospital was flooded and partly damaged by the
landslides. Most of the patients had to be evacuated to a non-damaged wing of the hospital,
which caused serious overcrowding. The A Wing (women’s ward) and B Wing (men’s ward)
were converted into one single facility, accommodating both male and female patients.
Children were placed in the general and outpatient ward, which was also used as shelter for
rescued people from the disaster zones.
The damages caused by the landslides were substantial, including the destruction of power
poles and telephone lines. The city’s under-financed and improperly managed drainage system
could not cope with the inflow of water and people saw the city becoming submerged in water
within minutes. To add to the disaster, the riverbank defenses also burst in two areas, causing
1
Developed in 2008 by UNDP-Pacific, OHCHR-Pacific, and OCHA-Pacific. Note that these are fictitious but based on
a combination of real events that occurred in the Pacific in the last 10-15 years.
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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December 2010
widespread damage to homes and government offices. The rapid flooding damaged substantial
food and water supplies in the city. Soon, looting of (often) damaged foodstuffs was reported.
At the time of the disaster, the political system of Lapita had just gone through a general
election, with a new government coming into power. The government response was therefore
slow, as they had yet to make official appointments of respective heads of government
departments. The Red Cross was quick to set up temporary shelters in the traditional land of
the Moko people, who had just the week prior to the flooding threatened to close down all
government offices on their land for failure of the government to pay rent and royalties
accumulated over the years. The issue had caused an intensive national outcry over the past
weeks. Post-disaster, the Moko people demanded that they should be supplied with larger
amounts of relief supplies as payment for the previously accumulated government debt as well
as the use of their land for temporary shelter. Some even threatened to loot Red Cross
compounds if the Mokos demands were not met. The Moko and Lago people had a long history
of tribal wars in the late 1800’s and prior to the country’s independence in 1980. There was also
a fierce rivalry between the groups when it came to sports and other competitions. Moko
village is situated about 20 kilometers away from Lago and the relocation of their once archcompetitors to their land was received with mixed feelings.
All transportation routes to Lapita were cut off by landslides. Road clearing was difficult as
some survivors were amongst the rumbles. Several women and children displaced by the
disaster suffered from severe hyperthermia. Those buried under the slides were mostly elderly
people. At the time of the disaster response the rain continued to fall in Lago.
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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December 2010
Response:
The “Lapita Disaster Committee” (LDC) was completely unprepared for the emergency response
as the Government reshuffle in the past week had seen a lot of the former members of the LDC
relocated to other ministries. The country’s Director of Meteorology was on a study leave
overseas and the acting Director had been admitted to a hospital a few days before the flood.
Consequently the flood warning was not broadcasted in time for the Lago people to begin
evacuation. However, the Red Cross had managed to liaise with international agencies on the
relief assistance. Donations started to pour in through the National Red Cross Center. The Red
Cross had to charter small boats from the government’s shipyard as these were the only means
of transporting basic humanitarian aid to the disaster victims. Lapita’s defense forces were
quick to send its officers to provide humanitarian assistance. However their presence was also
to contain a possible conflict between the Moko people and the humanitarian agencies on the
ground. Medical shortages in Lapita facilitated the Government of Kopiko’s sending in a team of
medical experts. The outbreak of water-borne illnesses was a worrisome development in many
affected areas.
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
Page 3 of 3
December 2010