How to stop deaths, losses from flood disasters
Daniel Anokwuru
Flooding is a disaster caused by several factors, preceded by heavy rainfall. In Nigeria, the major causes of flooding are due to high rainfall, blockage of drainage systems, and poor urban planning like erecting structures along the waterways.
Other causes of flooding include unusual high tides, failure of dams and tsunami, due to undersea earthquakes. Flooding is among the major devastating natural hazards in the world, claiming more lives and causing more damages to properties than any other natural disaster.
In Nigeria, flooding has become a major disaster. In September 2018, ACAPS Nigeria Flood Report noted that river levels remained high in most of the 12 states affected by flooding in 2018. The floods, according to the report, affected 441,251 people and displaced 141,369 people, between August and September, 2018.
Also, in a report released by NEMA in September 2018, the agency reported that a total of 108 deaths and 192 injuries were recorded. The NEMA report made on September 24, 2018, called for urgent need for shelter, with about 13,000 houses damaged.
The affected population, according to the report, has lost household and personal belongings. The floods, the report also said, had caused considerable damages to agricultural land across Nigeria, with 122,653 hectares of agricultural land destroyed.
NEMA’s initial assessment indicated that Rivers and Bayelsa states were the worst hit. The water level in the states continues to rise. The Niger River in Lokoja, Kogi State, recorded water level of 11.05m in September, 2018.
In Lagos, the commercial hub of the most populous black nation in Africa, flooding exposes residents to untold economic and environmental hardship every time it rains heavily.
Human and vehicular activities are always paralysed to a standstill. With a population of about 21 million people, the city, which has earned the position of the largest city in Africa, has most residents living in flood-prone areas.
Following the establishment of The Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, some of the victims of flooding were relocated to IDP camps constructed by the Committee.
States like Kogi, Niger, Anambra, and Delta were declared national disaster areas by NEMA, while Taraba, Kebbi, Adamawa, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Kwara states were placed on alert. With the recent alarm on climate change in the world, the Nigerian government needs to step up their game in tackling the floods disaster, which has killed and devastated many in recent times.
On Thursday, September 27, 2018, Okechukwu Osadebe, 18, son of the late highlife master, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, died in flood disaster in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.
October 26, 2018, flood killed 3 year old boy, Gentle Udom and 9 others, in Umunhase village in Anambra.
In Edo State, a 13-year old pupil of Idumu Ague Primary School in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Areaa of the state, was killed by flood in same year.
In Ondo community, two children, Igulapelewe Inuebokan and Justinah Seiwe, died in Ajapa, a riverine community in the state in October 2019. Also, on October 12, 2019, in Aboru, Iyana-Ipaja in Alimosho area of Lagos State, flood swept away an 11-year-old boy and his rescuer, one Wasiu, into a canal. The list is endless and cuts across all the states of the federation.
The Director General of Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Engr. Clement Nze, had earlier in 2019, warned Nigerians to prepare for more floods due to high rainfall duration in the country. He predicted that the country would experience the climax of flooding season for the year.
The DG, further informed that since May 22, 2019, till date, the agency’s hydrological measuring station downstream, the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue in Lokoja, has continued to witness a steady rise in water level. According to him, comparative hydrographs for the station at Lokoja for the years 2012, 2018 and 2019 show that flood level starting from May 22, 2019, exceeded the corresponding values in 2012 and 2018, respectively.
Further flooding has affected parts of Nigeria since late September, 2019, according to a recent Red Cross report, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies noted in a report of October 7, 2019, that rising from high water levels in Rivers Niger and Benue due to heavy rainfall, Cross River, Kogi, Niger and Taraba states have experienced flooding from 21 to 27 September, 2019. The Niger River at Lokoja, Kogi State, reached 10.5m, well above red alert stage of 9m.
Overall, the flooding affected around 18,640 people (3,104 households) in 54 communities, while some 4,485 people (746 households) are currently displaced due to the flood waters; 2,300 in Taraba, 1,129 in Niger and 1,056 in Cross River.
The Red Cross said that since June 2019, torrential rain falls and flash floods had hit 124 local government areas within 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in Nigeria. This they said had affected a total of 210,177 people with 171 causalities recorded in hospital and 130,610 people reported to be displaced.
The Niger Basin Authority in the Niger Republic had informed NIHSA that the Niger river levels are now in the ‘red alert zone’. This zone is defined by water levels, reaching 6.20 m(or above). This is illustrated in the Comparative Hydrograph of River Niger at Lokoja.
As at 26th September, 2019, the water levels were at 10.50 m. It is anticipated that water from the Niger Republic will arrive in Nigeria through Kebbi State and reach Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi and Kwara states.
At least, six people were reportedly killed in floods in the Nigerian city of Lagos. The six victims, including three men, two women and a baby, died following the recent release of water from the Oyan Dam in Abeokuta city of the southwestern Ogun state. The floods led to hardships being experienced by the residents of some communities in Lagos, as their houses and shops were submerged by flood waters.
In September 2019, three children were reportedly killed after flood swept through Polobubo, Teskelewu Community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State. The victims included a girl and two boys, Annabel, Gift and Praise-God.
Gift and Praise-God were said to be the children of one Mr. David Suku. The victims were aged between two, four and five years, respectively. Over 60 houses, including farmlands, were submerged in some communities in Oguta and Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Areas of Imo State recently by flood, with no fewer than 2,000 people displaced.
With the statistics of deaths caused by floods in the country, it is very obvious that the children are the worst hit. This is certainly because they cannot swim to save their lives. Parents, who are expected to save their children are also caught up in the same struggle during flooding.
In controlling flooding in Nigeria, government needs to improve waterways drainage, which helps to control floods, by ensuring easy flow of excess water. Building canals, dikes and levees, which help to control flood, and also tackle the issue of climate change with all the seriousness it deserves. There is also need to introduce water storage areas.
In a recent visit to Seme Border by The Nigerian Xpress reporter, it was observed that flood has taken over Agemowo area, down to Unity Estate, along the international road. This is caused by wrong waterways system channeled into the community without direction by the construction company, working on the road. As more flooding years are expected in the future, more professionals should be engaged on how to tackle the disaster, which can possibly avert more loss of lives and destruction of properties.
To ensure that less havoc is witnessed in the year 2020, the Coordinator, Lagos State National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA), Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said they were doing everything possible to ensure that people are properly educated and all measure needed put in place to ensure that 2020 flood did not cause havoc to life and the economy of the country. He said they had engaged channels to achieve this.
He said: “You can remember that the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency presented their 2020 prediction on rain just last month. And the state and local government have mobilised.
The mobilisation is still ongoing. We accessed our activity last year to know the gaps. Once we identify the gap, we will know that we are moving ahead. We have started having rainfall and we need to mobilise the farmers. Can they start planting or not? That is the first step of preparation.
Then public enlightenment,awareness creation, is ongoing on what we call All Set. We are working on all these things with the federal, State and local governments. Especially in the state and local government levels, we have what is called Job Assessment Unit.
So, this unit has been mobilised and it is ongoing now. Apart from that, the Community Based Organisations (CBO), we are approaching them. We are mobilising the NYSC members; we have a programme with them to prepare them. We don’t want to wait till when it happened we have to be prepared”.
Ibrahim noted that past years were worst to compare to the last year’s flood. He added: “If you check 2012 to last year, what we experienced was not like years ago. We are conducting workshops and engaging the grassroots. We are conducting the workshop in an open place now where we can get the people unlike the past we conducted in four walls of the classroom. We have moved from the reactive to proactive. We are carrying everybody along.”
