NEMA: 33 Nigerian States Ravaged by Flood in Eight Months

•508,000 persons affected, 372 deaths recorded

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), yesterday, disclosed that  in the last eight months, floods in Nigeria, mostly flash floods, had ravaged 33 out of 36 states and the FCT, thereby affecting over 508,000 persons, and leading to about 372 deaths.

It added that, 277 persons were injured and about 37,633 houses destroyed with loss of huge numbers of livestocks and several farmland submerged by the flood, mostly in Adamawa, Jigawa, Taraba, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Anambra, and Ebonyi States.

Director General, NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, made the disclosure during the inauguration and induction of newly acquired operational vehicles and specialised equipment in Abuja.

Ahmed noted that the flood had been accompanied by other derivative disasters, statingthat, “I wish to note, with pleasure, that the Agency has begun to venture into realms of Proactive and Predictive Disaster Risk Management in line with best practices.

“No doubt, the effort at new acquisitions will close existing gaps, meet the current operational cum tactical challenges faced by actors responding to emergencies in the field, increase the Agency’s asset base in preparedness at the HQ and across the Zonal, Territorial and Operational Offices (ZTOs).

“The initiative will also support the response capabilities of stakeholder agencies and individuals during emergencies,” Ahmed explained.

He maintained that current trends in hazards identification, risk mapping and actual disasters, have shown increasing instances of structural collapses, fuel tanker explosions, other road crashes and fire outbreaks, which were either isolated disasters or derivative disasters in the raining seasons mostly characterized by floods.

According to him, in recent weeks, devastating floods have ravaged countries such as South Africa, Pakistan, India, Japan, the Gambia, Italy and a host of other countries including Nigeria.