Maggi Bam
There is a need to prepare against floods and their impacts in Nigeria
The most frequent and frequently most destructive type of natural disaster is flooding.
Floods can occur in places that are far from a body of water, despite the fact that they are frequently linked to overflowing rivers and the sea swells that accompany tropical storms. During times of heavy rain, cities can flood.
Making plans for a flood should be a part of your preparedness strategy if you reside in a flood-prone area.
- Recognize your vulnerability to flooding.
• Create an emergency flood plan.
• Prepare or restock your emergency supply kit with items like a flashlight, batteries, money, and first aid supplies.
• You might want to buy flood insurance. Review your property insurance policy because many don’t cover floods.
• Become familiar with the emergency plans in your area. If you need to reach higher ground, the top floor of a building, or evacuate, you should be aware of where to go and how to get there.
• Place electric appliances, water heaters, and furnaces higher than the base flood elevation. In order to drain water away from your home, install a sump pump system.
• Caulk basement walls to stop water seepage.
• To stop water from backing up into the house, install standpipes or back-flow valves on sewer lines.
in the midst of a flood.
• Listen for weather updates, emergency instructions, or evacuation orders on the radio, TV, or internet.
• If you have the opportunity, move furniture and other items to higher floors.
• If directed, be ready to turn off the utilities.
• Be ready to leave if told to do so.
• Do not wait for instructions in the event of flash flooding. Head for higher ground right away.
• If at all possible, avoid crossing any areas of moving water. Verify the ground’s stability with a stick.
• Don’t operate a vehicle in flooded areas. Vehicles can be swept away very quickly.
• Avoid power lines that are dow
Also read: Rain Prone Disasters: Akwa Ibom Government Calls for Shared Responsibilities to Stem Tide
Environmental experts assert that climate change is the cause of devastating floods across many cities in Nigeria and many other places across the globe.
Even though flooding is often thought of as the aftermath of heavy rainfall, floods can be caused in a number of ways that are not directly related to weather occurrence.
Floods are also caused by the immense power of moving water and through the deposition of debris when floodwaters finally recede.
People who have not experienced a flood and its impact may have little or no appreciation of the rainwater that dries up shortly after it rains.
For Meteorological experts, floods occur as a direct result of Precipitation; Flash Floods refer to those flood events where the rise in water is either during or within a few hours of the rainfall, river floods, poor drainage systems, or poor town planning among others.
Apart from floods caused directly by rainfall, there are many ways in which precipitation can cause floods, perhaps long after it has fallen or failure in the construction of dams.
Flood Predictions from meteorologists over the years which in most cases are ignored by governments and agencies have caused the nation a whole lot of funding to mitigate the impact.
This is why it has become imperative for the warning by the Meteorologists over an impending flood this year to be taken seriously.
If one would recall, the 2022 catastrophic effects of the flood disaster which was unprecedented in the history of Nigeria, wreaked havoc in almost all the states in the country and that was a wake-up call for The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA responsible for managing flood disasters and other flood response agencies to spread early warning messages.
Records from Last year’s flood outlook revealed that in 2022, large-scale floods, helped by indifference in some places, cost over 600 lives in one of the worst disasters across the country.
However, in what has become an annual routine, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA, has highlighted the 2023 Annual Flood Outlook in Nigeria for policy formation, planning, and decision-making.
Earlier in 2023, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, had said Nigeria will experience severe flooding as indicated by predictions from seasonal climate predictions and annual flood outlook released by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA.
A further breakdown of the forecast in the 32 states shows that part of 66 local government areas across the country fall within the Highly Probable Risk areas in the months of April, May, and June, while part of 148 LGAs fall in the months of July, August, and September, and part of 100 LGAs in the months of October and November 2023.
In the same vein, the 8th edition of the 2023 Annual Flood Outlook, AFO, by the NIHSA, reveals specific states with high flood risk to include; Adamawa, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Edo, Gomber and Imo.
Following such prediction, the Federal Government revealed that about 178 local government areas in 32 states of the federation including the FCT are at risk of high probable flooding in the early rain from April 2023.
This year’s Flood Outlook also indicates that the level of floods in highly probable flood-risk States is expected to be high in terms of impact on the population, agriculture, livelihood, livestock, Infrastructure, and the environment, between April and November.
The forecast noted that Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, and Ondo, would be experiencing coastal flooding, due to a rise in sea level and tidal surge, which would impact fishing, wildlife habitation, and river navigation.
Failure of the Ecological Fund is a major reason communities in the nation’s coastal areas are being washed away by floods or the inability to build tree barriers, known as the Great Green Wall, to keep the desert in check.
In Akwa Ibom State, it has been observed that heavy thunder and wind usually accompany the rains which in most cases destroy properties in most parts of the state than the flood water.
It should be noted that Climate-related disasters all have a direct impact on Socio-Economic Livelihood.
So, it is important for technical training on climate disaster preparedness to be carried out and for people employed by the government to help create awareness and reduce its negative impacts.
With the negative impacts of floods and other disasters, all stakeholders, policymakers, and flood agencies should rise up with appropriate mechanisms on how to curtail impending floods this year and beyond.
Also, it should be noted that flooding would be drastically reduced if a better understanding of flood risks is promoted while ensuring adequate and appropriate mitigating measures are deployed.
Farmers, policymakers, and other stakeholders should use every information provided by experts for preventive measures while the relevant authorities should endeavor to put in place effective means of cushioning the impact of floods.
It is equally important that the various climate variables such as rainfall and temperature patterns should be put in place.
The weather forecast should be treated with seriousness, in order to save lives from the negative impacts of flooding
