How did the Humanitarian Community respond to the rains?

Cox’s Bazar - Rainfall gauges (June to August 2018)

A�ected individuals in camps and average displacement

I have never seen people work so hard,all night, barefoot

SMEP team member

THE MONSOON RAINS

100

200

300

Rain

fall

(mm

)In

divi

dual

s di

spla

ced

400

500

Jul 01 Jul 15 Jul 29

Jul 22

463mmPeak Daily Rainfall

979mmTen Day Rainfall

Aug 10

Aug 12

Camp 12 SP Camp 16 UNDP

Rainfall Gauge Locations

Chakmarkul UNDP CXB BMD

CXB UNDP Kutupalong UNDP Teknaf BMDTeknaf UNDP

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

Jun Jul Aug

Average of Displaced ind.Rainfall CXB Bangladesh Met. Dept.

An alarming amount of rain fell in a single day, some 463 mm on 25 July, 2018. The camps were flooded, some roads washed away. The Emergency Control room was activated The Site Maintenance Engineering Project (SMEP) team comprising of WFP, UNHCR and IOM worked closely with the Government of Bangladesh and refugee volunteers to repair access roads.

The numerous mitigation measures included the preparation of: roads, culverts, drains, water channels, slope stabilizing works, bamboo walls and bridges that began before the monsoon season helped alleviate the stresses faced by the Rohingya. Government appointed camp in Camp in Charge (CiCs) and Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) volunteers supported by UN Agencies and NGOs worked around the clock to ensure that those who needed help the most that received it.

The mitigation measures, volunteer mechanism and coordinated preparedness and response activities have ensured that there has not been any major incident during the on-going monsoon season which began in June. It is important that the current level of preparedness and response should continue with preparation for two upcoming Cyclone seasons in October - November and April - May.

According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department a total of 979mm of rain fell in Cox’s Bazar over a 10 day period significantly more than the expected average rainfall for this region.

Cox’s Bazar is prone to multiple natural hazards including landslides, floods and cyclones. The influx of over 700,000 Rohingya refugees in this area in this area within a period of three months exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities and risks. An Emergency Task Force the was created February 2018 in anticipation of the monsoons to review the preparedness and response activities as well as a Monsoon Response Plan for Rohingya Refugees.

(Maya) Bir Bikram, MP

EMERGENCY MEASURES

Clearing and strengthening primary drainage channels

Maintaining vehicular access via maintenance, emergency repair and rehabilitation

Materials supply, fabrication, and pre-positioning to

facilitate rapid responseSite preparation works

1 2

3 4

INCIDENT REPORTING MECHANISIM

Daily incident reporting mechanisim

CAMP

CAMP

CAMP

Unverified data ready forimmediate DOWNLOAD

Site Management KoBo Server ISCG INTER SECTORCOORDINATIONGROUP

Category 1 Incident Report shared internally.

Category 1 Incident Report shared widely.

SITE MANAGEMENTSECTOR

COX’S BAZAR

The Category 1 Incident Report was developed for a streamlined process for daily incident reporting, which captures incidents occurred till 6:00 pm. When generated it provides camp specific information on number and type of incidents, households and individuals a�ected. This report is widely disseminated through the Emergency Control Room and various networks.

The ERC based on the Government's well tested disaster management model expanded its core participation to 4 pillars: led by the Deputy Commissioner, it includes the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), Senior Armed Forces representation and the Senior Coordinator, Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG).

In order to identify and prioritise, risk mitigation measures for floods and landslides in the Rohingya refugee camps, a technical study by UNHCR, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and the University of Dhaka was conducted was in December 2017 following which several measures were initiated, including structural and non-structural: additional materials and tools to strengthen shelter; a volunteer mechanism for response; the strengthening of slopes; construction and strengthening of roads and culverts to ensure access; stockpiling; simulation exercise on disaster, mass awareness on do’s and dont’s related to disas-ters; and the relocation of households from landslide and flood prone areas.

Among the multiple e�orts undertaken, one of the most e�ective initiatives includes the Site Maintenance and Engineering Project (SMEP) commenced in February 2018, which is a joint venture by UNHCR - IOM - WFP with four principal objectives.

Objectives (1) and (2) have largely been undertaken by 14 forward operating teams consisting of 20 labor, a mechanical equipment, supervisor and roving engineer support. The teams were activated in early June when the monsoon began.

The spirit of volunteering, ofhelping others in need is strong in

the Rohingya community

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS: The true heroes

CPP volunteer Majuma (27)

Alam (21) is a CPP volunteer and heads a team of SUVs. The Safety Unit Volunteers –SUVs as they are better known, are from the largest NGO in Asia BRAC and are supported by UNHCR. Working in groups of ten, Zafar led his team through thigh-high muddy water, telling his team to “go, see where the water is coming in. Where are the landslides. If we didn’t do this, people would die. That is why I love what I do,” he adds with a smile. Zafar and his team worked through the night, moving out of landslide areas. A family lost their home. “There were five people, the children were so small. We took them to a big school to shelter for the night.”

Majuma (27) has two children and has been in the refugee camp for a year. Like the others, she is part of a team that worked helping others in the rain, helping others to safety. “I went to water-logged areas, I told children not to play in such places, because its dangerous. I helped a

young woman with a child and an old couple, whose houses were flooded, to move to safer places.”

Salimullah (27) has a strong message. He goes into the community, passionate about his work as a volunteer. “ I tell my people, we came here from Myanmar to save our lives. Why do you then choose to live in landslide areas? I explain to them, that they must move. I tell them about floods and rains and landslides.” On the day, he helped a woman with

three young children to move from her damaged house to another location. He moved people to mosques and schools.

“We knew it was going to rain. There were announcements in the mosque and other places the day before,“ say Mohammad Alam (35). A father of three, with his wife and mother, he lives in one of the many Rohingya camps in Ukhia. Mohammad is a volunteer with Action Against Hunger (ACF). On the day of the rains, he went house to house, to see how many were damaged and what was needed for repairs. He checked tube wells that might be contaminat-ed, sent reports on these and ensured that people got clean drinking water from ACF.“When the wind started, I helped people to tie down their roofs,” he added.

Zafar Alam (65) is a grandfather. He still works as a daily labourer in the camps, digging ditches and clearing roads. “Arifa’s house was damaged,” he says, remembering the night of the downpour. “I spoke with ACF, and was able to get her bamboos. I helped her and I repaired my own house too.”

The spirit of volunteering, of helping others in need, of building networks is strong in the Rohingya community. Various agencies have di�erent groups of volunteers in di�erent camps. Many work as volunteers with the Cyclone Preparedness Programme ( CPP ) of the Government and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.

I helped a young woman with a child whose house was flooded, to move to safer place.

In coordinating the Rohingya Response, our greatest dread is HOW and WHEREwe will move the children, women, elderly and disabled refugees in case of

high winds or a cyclone. This must be the top priority for all responders

Sumbul Rizvi, Senior Coordinator

What will happen if it rains again?

My priority are old people, women, sick people, disabled people

ISCG ROUP

INTER SECTORCOORDINATIONG

I have been a community worker for six years. Now, we are called COMs. My messages are simple. When it rains, we explain what people should do to survive it. A lot of rain will lead to a flood, a

“toofan”. We tell people to move to safe places such as a mosque, a school, the CiC’s o�ce. We tell them to take their medicines, their identity cards with them; we tell them to keep their drinking

water safe.

In the rains, water can get easily contaminated. We remind them to drink clean water. We tell children not to play in rain water that has collected –it could have sludge.

My priority are old people, women, sick people, disabled people. On the day of the heavy rain, our team of 15 people were sent to check the area. We took photographs and shared what we saw. Its always “sudden” work for us, we are also trained for landslides.

I like to work with this team, we are doing good work, we repair roads, we take those who are ill to hospital, we help pregnant women and take them to a facility where

they can give birth in clean conditions.

For Anwara Begum, (20), its about learning and helping. “I didn’t know about all this before,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do in a landslide. But I am happy that I know now and can help others.” She is proud that as an SUV, she took dry food to people who needed it in the rains, she helped three households, including one where a snake had floated, to move to safety.

There are many other similar volunteer groups, in every camp. They are trained and motivated. They believe they do what they do because its human nature to help those in trouble.

What will happen if it rains again? Are they confident that they will be able to once again, save lives? “We will manage,” says Zafar Alam. “Because people will help us, the community will help us. It depends on Allah, but we try.”