Abstract: This study characterized the critical disaster information flow among coordinating agencies in Lagos State. Key Informant Interview (KII), administered on heads of 6 disaster management coordinating agencies in Lagos States was used to elicit information on the flow of critical disaster information in the study area. Content analysis was used to analyse the data from the KII. Archives of disaster data from existing standalone databases of coordinating agencies served as secondary data for the study. Both primary and secondary data obtained were used to build the Lagos State Critical Disaster Information Database System (LACRIDS) as a decision support system for managing disaster information among coordinating agencies in disaster management in Lagos State. Findings from the study show that phone call is the agencies’ major (100%) source of critical disaster information followed by control room which accounts for 50%. On comparing previous and current methods of disaster mitigation in the state, 83% affirm that though the current method is still limited, it provides a more efficient platform for disaster mitigation. This limitation, according to the respondents include high cost of maintenance, corruption, inadequate funding as well as non-compliance to safety measures and misinformation among agencies. Further finding from the KII reveals that majority (83%) of the respondents confirm the absence of a shared database among coordinating agencies, thereby limiting the flow of critical disaster information. In response to this, the LACRIDS was developed to further improve on the status quo by promoting interoperability and critical disaster information sharing among first responder agencies and stakeholders in the study area.
Key words: Coordinating agencies, Critical disaster information, Data interoperability, Lagos State Critical Disaster Information Database System