Information and communication technology in disaster preparedness by eThekwini Municipality

Abstract

Natural disasters devastate societies, resulting in the loss of lives and infrastructure. The eThekwini Municipality has experienced a recurrence of flooding due to severe rains brought on by the bad weather leaving vulnerable people in distress. In order to mitigate or minimise the impact of flood disasters, the Municipality must ensure that these communities must be flood prepared. When natural disasters strike, efficient disaster communication, which includes the use of information and communication technologies, particularly from the government to the impacted communities is critical. When a disaster occurs, good communication between many parties is critical for disaster management to prepare for such events and information and communication technology tools can be valuable in communicating impending lifethreatening natural hazards. Information and communication technologies play an important role in disaster prevention, mitigation, and management, and they can be used as instruments to distribute early warning information, as well as track and communicate during emergency circumstances and post-disaster periods. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of information and communication technology in disaster preparedness by eThekwini Municipality. The study was conducted within the eThekwini Municipality Disaster Management Department, KwaMashu and Amaoti areas, which assisted the researcher to gather the information on a role of ICT in disaster preparedness. The researcher used a qualitative approach in the form of face-to-face interviews as the primary data collection, a non-probability sampling was done by means of expert and purposive sampling. This method helped the researcher in selecting disaster management practitioners and municipal ward councillors and ward committee members who could provide sufficient data for the purposes of completing the study. These instruments gave the researcher an understanding of the study and the outcomes addressed the key questions and objectives of the study.