Disaster Reduction Day 2016

Today is International Day for Disaster Reduction! In March, floods hit the village of Barsem, in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan. What could have been a major disaster was mitigated by a community emergency response team (CERT) trained by Focus Humanitarian Assistance, who was able to save the lives of an entire village. One CERT member, who had been trained to monitor changes in the environment, was able to warn the villages to evacuate. “I noticed that the water was changing in color and direction, said Dilsho Mubarakshoeva, "so I alerted the rest of the CERT team and we made plans to evacuate and told the villagers to bring their important possessions.” The floods had a heavy impact, and washed away large parts of the village, but many lives and assets were saved due to the preparedness of the community volunteers who knew what to look for. Watch the video below to learn more about CERT: http://www.akfusa.org/our-stories/a-w...