ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVINESS OF SAVALA EVACUATION CENTER IN FLOOD RESPONSE AND RECOVERY IN CHIKWAWA, MALAWI

Disasters have negative damaging impacts on the lives, livelihoods, environment, and economy of nations. So far, a lot of measures have been implemented to curb the negative impacts of disasters across the globe. One of the measures is constructing evacuation centers in disaster-prone areas. Evacuation centers accommodate displaced disaster victims and evacuees. Thus, they reduce shelter after disaster problems hence hastening the recovery process of individuals. So far, there has been an increased preference of evacuation centers to other mitigation measures of disasters in Malawi and other Countries since they are believed to increase the resilience of communities to disasters. However, it is not logical to conclude that the evacuation centers are crucial in increasing the resilience of all disasterprone areas they have been constructed in across the world, this needs empirical evidence. Since in some disaster-prone areas they might be needless due to various reasons. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing how effective Savara evacuation center is in alleviating the impacts of floods and enhancing the recovery of displaced victims in Group village headman (GVH) Savara, Ta Makhwira, Chikwawa, Malawi. Thereby, bringing empirical evidence on the conceptual information of the Evacuation Center. The study used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) as well as Microsoft word. The sample comprised of individuals who have ever been displaced by floods and lived at the evacuation center in the area, Desk officer for disaster management in Chikwawa district, Chairperson of the Area Civil Protection Committee (ACPC) of TA Makhwira, and the Chairpersons of each of the three Village Civil Protection Committees (VCPC) in GVH Savara. Through the analysis of collected data, it was found that the Evacuation center is effective and suitable in terms of its role in flood response and recovery in the area. Since all shelter after disaster problems are over and the response to floods is effective and timely. The study recommends that the government and relevant stakeholders concentrate more on disaster preparedness measures in all disaster-prone areas including evacuation center construction rather than an ordinary disaster proactive approach.

So far, there has been an increased preference of evacuation centers to other mitigation measures of disasters in Malawi and other Countries since they are believed to increase the resilience of communities to disasters. However, it is not logical to conclude that the evacuation centers are crucial in increasing the resilience of all disasterprone areas they have been constructed in across the world, this needs empirical evidence. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing how effective Savara evacuation center is in alleviating the impacts of floods and enhancing the recovery of displaced victims in Group village headman (GVH) Savara, Ta Makhwira, Chikwawa, Malawi. The sample comprised of individuals who have ever been displaced by floods and lived at the evacuation center in the area, Desk officer for disaster management in Chikwawa district, Chairperson of the Area Civil Protection Committee (ACPC) of TA Makhwira, and the Chairpersons of each of the three Village Civil Protection Committees (VCPC) in GVH Savara.

The study was conducted in Group Village Headman Savala, Traditional Authority
Makhwira in Chikwawa District in the southern region of Malawi. The area comprises 4
villages namely; Savala, Nota. Thedzi, Mitawe. The area is prone to disasters such as
cyclones, stormy rains, floods, and Heatwaves. However, Floods are the most recurring
disaster in the area and the district as a whole. Of all areas in the district, Makhwira is the
main area that is hit by floods almost yearly. This area lies along the Shire River and gets
flooded due to several river tributaries that pour water into the Shire River. The land is
almost flat with several river tributaries. The area has good and fertile soils for the
cultivation of crops without applying inorganic fertilizer which makes it less likely to be
abandoned by the inhabitants despite the area being very prone to floods.

Traditional authority: TA Makhwira

District: Chikwawa

Coordinates: -16.2776, 35.0011