Bolts of lightning and heavy rain claim 25 lives in April:

Disaster Management Centre on alert to mitigate damage

By Omar RAJARATHNAM

Rains are here again and creating havoc all over the country. The downpour is affecting most parts of the country and the bolts of lightning are on a record high too. The Disaster Management Centre says that Ratnapura district is one of the worst affected so far with nearly 16,606 people of 3,831 families affected and nearly 56 families have been displaced.

Fifteen people have died due to being struck by lightning when compared in April alone and three deaths were reported from Ratnapura due to heavy rain, taking the death toll to 25 this month. A total of 33 people died due to lightning in 2010. Property damage has been reported from various parts of the country.

In Colombo, many school children were stranded on the roads. There were severe bus delays and transport was disrupted. "I am taking all these children home now", a three wheel driver transporting six children stranded at the university junction told the Sunday Observer.Colombo north was once again one of the worst affected and a stranded resident said that he was fed up of facing the same ordeal at least once every two months. Another resident from Bloemendhal Road adjacent to the garbage dump said that they have no other option but to take it in their stride. "I am used to it now, I have stopped complaining", he said.

The sight is not new to the country anymore, the last downpour in January had an adverse impact islandwide.

Director General of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi said "The Disater Management Act No. 13 of 2005 covers all these catastrophes and we have made steady progress in terms of improving the quality of rescue operations by increasing the equipment in most of these flood affected areas.

Nuwan Kumarasinghe

D.A. Jayasinghearachchi

Gamini Hettiarachichi

The damage due to floods in January and February costs the country thousands of millions of rupees, but we minimised the amount of fatalities to 40 in January and 18 in February. We are working on reducing this figure further as we improve to counter such disasters", he said.

Q: How has the DMC prepared to counter such disasters and organise rescue and relief operations?

A: We have purchased over 50 catamarans to use during such disasters and they are to be distributed to the divisional secretariats of some of the most vulnerable regions. This is to ensure that rescue operations does not come to a halt due to lack of resources.

The Treasury has also granted us Rs. 50 million for flood mitigation projects and we have also improved the communication system between organisations such as the Irrigation Department and the Meteorology Department so we have their undivided assistance when devising our rescue operations.

The Disaster Relief Centre, another wing of the Ministry of Disaster Management also works closely with us to identify the immediate basic needs of displaced families. Further.

Our 24 hour Emergency Operations Centre constantly monitors the situation so we do not miss out on being available to rescue the affected victims.

A public communication scheme has been tied up with a leading mobile telecommunications service provider where in case people need to be advised to re-locate within a short timespan, we will send out text messages with the DMC identification on it, so the public are kept in the loop too.

Q: Was the damage of the January and February floods so high because the DMC didn't have these plans in place by then?

A: We have improved the system after learning from those incidents. Having said that, the rainfall is increasing by tremendous margins when compared to corresponding years where in places like Anuradhapura the rainfall recorded hit 285.3 mm whilst their 30 year average stands at 55.4 mm, needless to say this is a huge increase to cope with. Batticaloa recorded a staggering 1195.5 mm in January alone and 465.8 mm in February. When such unusual figures are recorded, it makes it difficult for any organisation to combat.

Q: Lightning is clearly becoming a issue to watch out for as well, is the DMC involved in trying to mitigate the damages in this area too?

A: We have experienced a sharp increase in the number of lightning related deaths, I think people need to be told on how they can protect themselves from lightning.

We have taken it into account, but the Meteorology Department will be able to shed more light on it.

We contacted Meteorologist in-charge, The National Meteorology Department, D.A. Jayasinghearachchi said that lightning is becoming a threat since late. "It is normal that we have powerful bolts of lightning during the Inter-Monsoon season of March/April and the October/November, but the number of deaths have increased this year", he said We were also joined by the Electronics Engineer of The National Meteorology Department, Nuwan Kumarasinghe.

Q: What are the misconceptions the people have about lightning and what should they avoid doing to protect themselves from being struck by a bolt?

A: Having a shower even in the most compact bathrooms can be dangerous during times of lightning, the conductivity of water is so high that if lightning strikes a plastic water pipe at a height, the effects can get into the water and cause damage to the person having a bath. Many misconstrue that as long as plastic objects cover the conductor, it's safe but it is not so. Being in open land areas should be avoided at all costs. If you are in a closed vehicle, there is no risk, but open vehicles such as Motorbikes, bicycles and even vehicles with open hoods can attract lightning.

All electrical appliances must be switched off at all times and the antenna wires must be disconnected from the television socket and left facing outside so even if the antenna is struck by lightning the effect is release outside the house.

The use of land phones is one of the most dangerous practices during lightning. Telephone wires are located at a height and if it's struck by lightning, it can travel through them and affect your phone and then your ear if you are using it. That must be disconnected too.

Q: How about the use of laptops, when they are fully charged they are not connected to any electric wire, is it safe to use them indoors?

A: No, laptops have many metal components and they are as good as working electrical appliances where lightning is concerned. Whether it is connected to an electric connection is immaterial because the lightning has enough voltage to attract its metal components.

Q: How does a lightning conductor help mitigate the risk of a lightning attack?

A: The conventional lightning conductor can be incorporated into a construction plan and used as a preventive structure to attract the effect if the bolts and then transfer them through defines routes to the earth.

They cost approximately Rs. 8,000 and reduce damage due to lightning. Apart from human damage, nearly Rs 300 million worth damages are inflicted on property annually and also loss of animals. When lightning damages factory property, the down time needs to be regarded as direct damages caused by the lightning too.

We ensure that people are made aware about preventive measures at least twice a year during inter-monsoon seasons but it is often forgotten and the price we pay is a human life.

It is our responsibility to ensure that we make sure we do not disregard the fatal effects lightning can cause and that with vigilance and proper care, they can be avoided to a great extent.