The Executive Director (ED) of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), Mr. Sanna Dahaba has disclosed- at the time of the press conference-that a total of 1531 people were internally displaced due to the destruction of their houses, as a result of Wednesday’s heavy windstorm.
The press briefing was convened to update the media on Wednesday night windstorm disaster that shocked the nation, and the ongoing efforts to providing assistance to the victims.
“The North Bank Regions is the hardest hit region by the incident as the region recorded 10 deaths during the incident, whilst the West Coast Region recorded 1 death,” the nation’s disaster management chief sadly informed the press. He pointed out that the factor leading to the number of deaths was as a result of either falling down of trees on their houses or when the roof is being blown off, it hits them and they died during the incident. He quantified at the material time that, 3,140 people had already been affected; there were 10 fatalities, and 1,531 people are internally displaced.
“This is very serious and the rapid assessment is ongoing so as to give the government a credible, reliable and dependable data to determine the kind of response that it would provide to the affected families,” said Dahaba.
According to the Executive Director, the windstorm was estimated to be at the speed of 85 kilometers per hour, saying “I think this is the first in five-years that the Gambia is experiencing this kind of windstorm. And it has caused considerable damages to lives and livelihoods”.
Dahaba continued: “As at now, there are 10 fatalities and when the fatalities happened, the President [H.E.Adama Barrow] called for an emergency meeting. This is because in any disaster, government is the primary duty-bearer, and that the government is not taking the welfare of the citizenry lightly.”
As mitigation measures, he singled out tree-planting as one way of averting such scenario, noting trees serve as windbreakers which would reduce the impact of disaster caused by windstorm.
“The government is waiting for the outcome of the assessment, so that it can take its rightful position in provide the requisite assistance to the victims,” he intimated.
Also speaking was the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Mr. Muntaga Sallah, who pledged the sum of D10,000 as his personal contribution towards providing a swift assistance to the affected families.
Describing the incident as unfortunate, he stated it’s evident that climate change is a real phenomenon and also highlights the significance of government’s ongoing efforts to mainstream climate change adaptation in the country’s national disaster risk management.
PS Sallah called on their partners and stakeholders both locally and internationally, to come and work together and mobilize resources as well as efforts, so as to ensure resilience, fill the adaptation funding and assist the most vulnerable.
Mr. Alasan Senghore, Secretary General of Gambia Red Cross Society said some of the actions they had taken in complementing government’s efforts of providing response to the victims included reviewing their standard operating procedures to ensure that they respond to disasters in few hours, as opposed to responding to disasters in 24 to 48 hours, make their assessments and provide some life-saving materials that would help the affected families.
