The Red Cross Society, Anambra State branch said it has put in place proactive measures to mitigate the impact of flooding predicted by the National Emergency Management Agency in the state.

Chairman of Anambra State branch of the Red Cross Society, Charity-Ifeyinwa Emelie, said this on the occasion of 2024 World Red Cross Day celebration in Awka on Wednesday.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Keeping humanity alive.”

Ms Emelie said the society has presence in communities in the state and placed them on alert to prevent disaster.

She, however, expressed worry that residents in the flood-prone areas do not respond to early warnings by relocating to upland locations.

According to her, because of the way people are attached to their homes, they do not leave danger areas early but wait until the disaster comes before moving.

She said, “So, what we do most of the time is evacuation and management of camps where displaced person are accommodated. However, we have trained our volunteers in all the communities and we have placed them on alert such that response time will not be more than five minutes.”

Ms Emelie called on the state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, to pay attention to the plight of the people in rural communities, who were prone to disaster, with need for basic necessities of life.

She said the society had distributed food items and cash to households in Ogbaru, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Awka North and areas affected by flood.

She stated, “The Nigerian Red Cross Society in Anambra remains the first responder to every emergency with a strategic and professional approach to every situation. It often conducts a monthly workshop known as Emergency First Aid Training.

“This is aimed at building the capacity of our responders. We distributed food items to thousands of households affected by flood in some communities, drilled and reactivated water projects in Ogbaru, Anambra East and West.’’

(NAN)