The Design of a Disaster Management Centre, Port-Harcourt

INTRODUCTION 

"Disaster management" can be defined as the range of activities designed to maintain control over disaster and emergency situations and to provide a framework for helping at-risk persons to avoid or recover from the impact of the disaster. Disaster management deals with situations that occur prior to, during, and after the disaster. Globally, there has been lots of disaster on land, air and sea, though these disasters may be natural or man-made, it has however led to the destruction of lives and properties worth billions of Naira.  

In Nigeria, there have been instance of earth tremors in Ogun state in 1994, several cases of flood has occurred in Nigeria, in July 2012, 

363 people killed, over 2,100,000 displaced, Areas affected include, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, and Benue state. On 2nd July 2012, many Nigerian coastal and inland cities experienced heavy rains, and residents of Lagos state were "gasping for breath" due to the flooding. In addition, there was a gridlock on major roads, causing people to cancel or postpone appointments they may have had. Thousands of stranded commuters had to pay increased fares for the few bus drivers who were willing to risk travelling on the roads, and construction of work by the Nigerian government on the inner Oke-Afa Road took a "heavy toll." In mid-July 2012, flooding in the Ibadan metropolis caused some residents at Challenge, Oke-Ayo, and Eleyele to flee from their residences and save their lives. The flooding also prevented some Christians from attending churches in the morning, while a few bridges caved in. The Nigerian government said that certain structures on waterways had to be demolished as a result of the flooding, while Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Bosun Oladele, announced that there weren't any casualties from the flooding. Although, most of the disasters that Nigerians face are generally preventable, such as aircraft crash, boat mishap, floods, landslides, fire out breaks, oil spillage etc, can actually be prevented. Disaster is an event, natural or man-made, sudden or progressive, which impacts with such severity that the affected community or individual has to respond by taking exceptional measures. Disaster Management is the systematic observation and analysis of disasters to improve measures relating to prevention, mitigation, preparedness, emergency response and recovery. It is also the range of activities designed to maintain control over disaster and emergency situations and to provide a framework for helping at-risk persons to avoid or recover from the impact of the disaster and deals with situations that occur prior to, during, and after the disaster.