Prepare against flood this August, NEMA tells residents of Delta, Ondo, Sokoto, 16 other states

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has hinted that Delta, Ondo, Sokoto and 16 other states are likely to experience floods this August.

NEMA in a statement by its Lagos Territorial Coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye, also stated that 56 communities across the country, were likely to alro experience floods.

The agency said that the preempted incidence of flood in the listed communities may be caused by heavy rainfall predicted in the specified areas this month of August, adding that the heavy rainfalls could lead to flooding.

According to Farinloye, the communities include Aboh in Delta State; Ado-Ekiti, Akure, Idanre, Ifon, Iju Itaogbolu, Ogbese, Owo and Owena in Ondo State.

Other communities include Apapa, Badagry, Eti Osa, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Ikoyi, Lagos Island, Ojo, Surulere, Atani in Anambra state, Ifo, Ota and Sagamu in Ogun state, Lafia and Wamba in Nasarawa state, Ikom and Ogoja in Cross River State.

Farinloye also listed Jamaare, Misau, Azare, Itas, Kafin Madaki, Kari, Kirfi, Tafawa Balewa, Katagum in Bauchi state, Hadejia and Mige in Jigawa state, Ilesa and Osogbo in Osun state, Kosubosu in Kwara state.

The rest are Anka, Bungudu and Gusau in Zamfara state, Goronyo in Sokoto state, Numan and Shelleng in Adamawa state, Serti in Taraba state, Ito, Katsina-Ala, Vande-Ikya in Benue state, Oguta and Orlu in Imo state and Ugba community in Abia state.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet I’m a recent development, predicted three days of cloudiness, rainfall and thunderstorms across the country.

The agency further urged airline operators to avail themselves of weather reports and periodic alerts from NiMet for effective planning of their operations as it warned that moderate to heavy rainfall could lead to flash floods.

“The public is advised to take necessary caution, and avoid driving and walking through flood waters,” the agency said.

NiMet also “urged risk and disaster managers, agencies, and individuals to be proactive in averting the loss of lives and properties during the rainy season”.

Floods are a recurrent and seasonal disaster in Nigeria. Every year, residents in different parts of the country suffer flood and it’s effects which often lead to the abysmal loss of lives and properties.

In January, the federal government reportedly listed Jigawa, Rivers, Taraba, Cross River and Delta states as the five worst flood affected states in the country in 2022.

This was as the government said the key findings of the Global Rapid (Post Disaster) Damage Estimation, GRADE Report of 2022 floods in Nigeria showed that all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT have been affected by the 2022 flood in Nigeria; with varying degrees of damages and people affected.

Similarly, in October 2022, widespread flooding from a dam in neighboring Cameroon reportedly left 1.4 million Nigerians displaced and claimed 500 lives.

This was according to a report by Washington Post.

It revealed that the flood which affected 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states, also injured 1,546 people, inundated 70,566 hectares of farmland and “totally damaged” 45,249 homes.

Having experienced other incidence of flooding across the country, the seasonal disaster is expected to get worse as a result of global warming, according to a recent scientific study by the World Weather Attribution scientific team.