Assessment of Awareness and Level of Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters in Nigeria

Abstract Background Disaster preparedness is critical for households, businesses, and communities. Over the years, Nigerians have had to rely on sheer luck and providence to save themselves from disasters with little or no help coming from rescue agencies which on many occasions have been found to lack capacity and wherewithal to intervene in such difficult moments. This research was focused on determining the level of awareness, preparedness and response to humanitarian disasters concerning flood in Nigeria. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which relevant data was collected from community dwellers (household heads) selected by a multistage sampling technique and data analysed using SPSS v23. Results The mean age of respondents was 39 years with an average family size of seven. Flooding, fire incidence and rioting were the highest recorded disasters known and experienced by the participants and the humanitarian disasters experienced in the four states are statistically significant (p < 0.05). The participant’s awareness of humanitarian disasters emerged from diverse sources with the highest being personal experience (25.5%), television (21.3%) radio jingles (17.9%) and the least information obtained through telephone calls (0.2%). Flooding was the most encountered and significant humanitarian disaster among all participants. Blocked drainages as a cause of the flood were reported amongst 24.9% of respondents while 21.4%, 18.6% and 8.9% attributed the cause of the flood to heavy rainfall, the opening of dams and the lack of drainages, respectively. The effects of flooding on the participants ranged from loss of lives and properties to an adverse impact on income. Also, the study explored how participants would prevent floods. 33.5% responses indicated clearing drainages, 19.3% stated public enlightenment, 13.5% suggested non-dumping of refuse in the drainage and 6.8% affirmed that floods could be prevented if structures are not built on drainage channels. Lastly, concerning what they had to do in case of flooding; 33.2% suggested climbing to a higher area and shouting for help, 25.7% recommended calling emergency numbers, 9.4% proposed swimming across the flood and 7.8% responded with staying in the flood and holding on tightly to something. Conclusion To systematically reduce the increased impact of disaster especially flooding among community dwellers, there is need for increased awareness, re-orientation and continued education in response to humanitarian disaster.