Incident: On Friday 22 July 2023, at about 3:00 am according information gathered from the field, a landslide hit the Cassava Farms neighbourhood in Limbe 1 Municipality South West Region of Cameroon. In response to this, YADEF team moved down to the field to gather first hand information on the effect of this natural disaster, mobilize for emergency response and also inform the humanitarian community. This incident report gives a brief candid description of the causes of this landslide, the damaged cause and the need for an emergency intervention for affected population.
Following information gathered from the inhabitants around the incident site and personal observation from field assessment team the following was identified as the main cause of the landslide. This landslide was caused mainly by the collapse of the soil due to heavy rainfall. According field observation, houses around this area are built at a hill slope with very high risk of landslide. Following heavy rains the soil collapse and fell directly on one of the houses leading to the death of two persons; a woman and a baby meanwhile the other household members survived. Also to note is that fact that the said house just like others around was an old one constructed of wood and therefore could not hold the pressure of the collapsing soil leading to destruction of the entire house. According information from neighbours around the incident area, the time of the day and quantity of soil which collapse on the house did not favour an effective community rescue. The search team could only discover the missing persons at about 7:00 am in the morning when they were already dead.
Effect
• Human and materials – two persons died and huge material loss. The house which was directly affected was completely destroyed including all properties.
• Displacement – following the incident, many persons because of fear were forced to flee. However, information gathered from the field indicated that the City Mayor instucted that all persons living in the area which has been mapped out should evacuate immediately. Therefore, it is projected that there will be potential displacement of persons in the nearest few days and weeks. All these indicates neccessity for emergency support.
Identified needs – the following emergency needs were identified; health, shelter, psychosocial support and trauma healing, NFIs, WASH, protection (child protection, HLP cash for rents).
YADEF intervention: In addition to YADEF’s assessment, the team carried out sensitization and awareness raising on natural disaster preparedness, waste disposal, children’s safety during hash and extreme weather conditions. We also reminded the population of the dangers of constructing or locating on hill slopes, valleys. The team also observed poor drainage, poor disposal of waste, poor toilet infrastructures, local breeding of animals very close to houses, wet marsh, etc. and there had to sensitized the population on better hygiene and sanitation practices and how to prevent Cholera outbreak or other health diseases.
Conclusion
The effects of climate change are seen everyday bringing pains on community life. This reminds the global community to act by bringing together collective efforts to combat climate change and its effects. This is not the first time similar incidents of landslide and floods are happening in Limbe. However, in order to safe life of vulnerable population, there is need for sensitization, avoid location in risk sites and be more conscious with our actions on the natural environment.
