Last week, the water rose so quickly in Jangwani that residents had little warning before they had to flee their homes. As heavy rains filled the Msimbazi River, which cuts through this low-lying, unplanned settlement in central Dar Es Salaam, water backed up against a recently constructed bridge, breached a makeshift barrier of mud and trash, and poured into the settlement.

The Dar Ramani Huria team visited Jangwani today to survey the damage. The neighborhood lies within Magomeni ward, which is one of 17 flood-prone wards of the city that the project is focusing on.

Luckily, everyone in the area was able to escape to higher ground as the flood raged through, but locals told us that about 200 homes were damaged or destroyed, affecting hundreds of people. Some local residents have found shelter in a nearby bus station, sleeping with their young children on foam mats. They said they had abandoned their homes for fear of more flooding.

Heavy rains have been falling for the past two weeks across Dar, causing severe localized floods. The rains come regularly during the wet season, but this year’s floods have been the worst in recent memory. Locals were shocked at the torrent that came through Jangwani. On the walls of a nearby bus terminal mud stains mark the high water level, more than a meter off the ground.

Several residents of Jangwani spoke about how disruptive the floods have been to their livelihoods and also pointed out the damage that the flooding was doing to the city’s infrastructure. The bus terminal, which is still under construction, clearly lies in the path of floods.

“It’s such a waste,” said one man, shaking his head.

Seeing the human impact of flooding made the project’s goals all the more real for the team and brought home the impact that open data could have.

By creating accurate and easily updatable maps of areas like Jangwani, the project will enable better disaster planning and response using InaSAFE, a software that allows decision makers to run realistic flood and disaster scenarios. The insights gleaned from this open data won’t only save the city millions of dollars every year, it will save homes and lives.

The residents of Jangwani are eager for solutions, but the memories of such disasters can fade quickly, leading to poor planning and decision making (at all levels) in the future. Through Dar Ramani Huria, the residents Jangwani themselves will work to collect data and map important features of their communities, including drainage and floodplains, in OpenStreetMap. Beyond being an effective way to collect large amounts of accurate data, this community based effort also brings the realities of disaster planning and risk reduction to the local level, helping to ensure that the disasters that hit communities like Jangwani each rainy season don’t continue.[:sw]

Wiki iliyopita, maji yalijaa haraka sana pale Jangwani na wakazi walikuwa hawana taarifa kabla hivyo iliwabidi kukimbia makazi yao.Jinsi mvua kubwa ilivyojaza mto msimbazi, ambao umepita maeneo ambayo hayajapangwa sehemu ya kati ya Dar Es Salaam,maji yalijaa mpaka juu ya daraja lililojengwa hivi karibuni,ikasafirisha matope na takataka, na kupeleka kwenye makazi.

Timu ya Dar Ramani Huria imetembelea Jangwani leo kuangalia madhara yaliyotokea. Hili eneo lipo katika vitongoji vinavyopatikana katika kata ya magomeni ,ambayo ni moja kati ya kata ambazo zitzafanyiwa kazi na mradi huu .

Kwa bahati nzuri,kila mmoja katika eneo walifanikiwa kujiokoa kuelekea maeneo yasiyo na mafuriko, lakini wakazi walituambia nyumba 200 ziliharibiwa ,watu wengi waliathirika na mafuriko.Baadhi ya wakazi walitafuta malazi katika kituo cha mabasi kilicho karibu, na kulala pamoja na watoto wao wadogo kwenye mikeka.Walisema wamekimbia makazi yao kwa kuogopa mafuriko zaidi.

Mvua kubwa imenyesha kwa wiki mbili mfululizo hapa Dar, na kupelekea mafuriko katika maeneo.Mvua hunyesha mara kadhaa kipindi cha masika, lakini huu mwaka mafuriko yameleta madhara mengi.Wakazi walishangaa jinsi mawimbi ya maji yaliyoelekea jangwani. Katika kuta za karibu na kituo cha mabasi matope yaliweka alama ya jinsi maji yalipofika ,zaidi ya mita moja kutoka ardhini.

Wakazi wengi wa Jangwani waliongea jinsi gani mafuriko yanathiri shughuli zao za kujitafutia kipato na pia walitaja madhara na uharibifu ulioletwa na mafuriko kwenye miundombinu ya jiji.Kituo cha mabasi ambacho bado kipo kwenye ujenzi, kimeonyesha kinaathiriwa na mafuriko.

Hii ni uharibifu” alisema kijana mmoja, huku akitikisa kichwa.

Kuona jinsi watu wanavyoathiriwa na mafuriko inafanya malengo ya mradi yawe na manufaa kwa timu na inaleta matokeo ya kuwa na ramani huria.

Kwa kutengeneza ramani za kweli na za kuharirika za maeneo kama Jangwani, mradi utasaidia kuwa na mipango ya maafa na jinsi ya kutumia InaSAFE kukabiliana nayo, hii software inasaidia wafanya maamuzi kuitumia katika scenario ya mafuriko na mafaa.Tambuzi zilizopatikana kutoka ramani huria haitasaidia pesa nyingi za jiji tu kila mwaka , itawaokoa makazi na maisha ya watu.

Wakazi wa Jangwani wana hamu na utatuzi wa hili tatizo, lakini kumbukumbu ya maafa hayo yanaweza kuisha haraka , na hivyo kusababisha mipango duni na kufanya maamuzi ( katika ngazi zote ) katika kipindi cha baadae.Kupitia Dar Ramani Huria , wakazi Jangwani wenyewe watafanya kazi ya kukusanya taaarifa za muhimu za eneo , ikiwa ni pamoja na mifereji ya maji na mafuriko , katika OpenStreetMap.Zaidi ya kuwa njia bora ya kukusanya kiasi kikubwa cha taarifa sahihi , juhudi za wanajamii pia huleta hali halisi ya mipango ya maafa na kupunguza hatari kwa ngazi za chini , na kusaidia kuhakikisha kwamba majanga kwamba matatizo kwa wanajamii kama Jangwani kila msimu wa mvua hayaendelei .