ASSESSING EFFECTIVENESS OF FLOOD EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

Floods are major water-related disasters that affect millions of people, resulting in thousands of fatalities and billion-dollar losses globally every year. Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) is one of the flood risk management measures. FEWS is currently operational in many countries. Early warning systems aim at providing warnings to people of an impending natural hazard so that those vulnerable and at-risk are aware of the potential impact of the natural processes to respond appropriately and minimize damage. This study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of flood hazard early warning systems in the area of Chikwawa at T/A Makhwira. The study used a mixed-approach research design whereby both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used. The qualitative method mainly just complements the study. The Risk and Rehabilitation Officer, the Area Civil Protection Committee of T/A Mankhwira, and the inhabitants of T/A Mankhwira were involved in the study. Primary data from the participants was collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The secondary was collected from published literature. The following criteria were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the current early warning system practices: risk awareness, technological monitoring, and warning services, warning distribution and communication, and response capacity. The study found that early warning systems are not that effective. The early warning system's ability to function is hindered by a shortage of resources and necessities. Despite efforts to create early warning systems, more failures than successes have occurred. Therefore, the government must allocate adequate funds for system sustainability, increase CPC capacity and villagers’ capacity, and install more cutting-edge systems.

Early warning systems aim at providing warnings to people of an impending natural hazard so that those vulnerable and at-risk are aware of the potential impact of the natural processes to respond appropriately and minimize damage. This study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of flood hazard early warning systems in the area of Chikwawa at T/A Makhwira. The Risk and Rehabilitation Officer, the Area Civil Protection Committee of T/A Mankhwira, and the inhabitants of T/A Mankhwira were involved in the study. The following criteria were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the current early warning system practices: risk awareness, technological monitoring, and warning services, warning distribution and communication, and response capacity.

The research was conducted in Chikwawa, T/A Makhwira, group village headman Malata in the lower shire. TA Makhwira covers a large section of the southern region of Malawi, most of the areas in the district are at an altitude of below 1000 meters above sea level. The district has a total of 564, 684 people and it covers an area of 4878 km2. While T/A Makhwira has a total population of 79, 933 (NSO, 2018).
Chikwawa district was selected for the study because geographically is located in low-lying areas and the major river Shire River runs through these districts. Group Village Headman Malata Area. It comprises five villages and Malata village is the main area that is hit by floods almost yearly. This area gets flooded due to several rivers pouring their water into its river which is river Livunzu. The land is almost flat with several river tributaries. The area has good and fertile soils that attract people to the cultivation of crops without applying inorganic fertilizer.

District: Chikwawa

Coordinates: -16.2153, 34.6804