Swift Water Rescue training for rural Mannar Community by #APAD

COLOMBO (News 1st); Raging floodwaters and landslides have become a staple in the lives of many Sri Lankans.

Here’s a story about a group of rescuers training a rural village in Mannar, on how to prepare.

A prepared community is an essential part of facing a flood disaster, and this is what The Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management or A-PAD is doing in the village of Nanattan, in the Mannar District recently.

Nanattan, is a rural village situated along the banks of the historic Malwatu Oya River in the Mannar district in Sri Lanka. Rain in the upper catchment areas of Anuradhapura causes the river to swell as it rushes down towards the Ocean, flooding this North-West Coastal town.

The people of Nanattan, mostly farmers and fisherfolk, have no choice but to live knowing the risk they face. Lives and property are lost each year, placing an unbearable burden on a community already struggling to make ends meet.

It is to this village that The Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management took a group of internationally trained Sri Lankan Search & Rescue Instructors and conducted a resident training camp for volunteers from this community and also from the Mullaitivu District.

The training included basic survival swimming techniques, Inflatable Rescue Boat drills, rope skills, and Community Survival techniques.

Internationally certified Search & Rescue instructors carried out the programme, which will run for a week.

The programme was conducted in close coordination with the Disaster Management Center and supported by Worldvision.