By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has disclosed that two out of the Six Area Councils would experience high flooding.
This followed the recent release of the 2022 Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
The Director General of FEMA in a statement through the Public Relations Officer, Nkechi Isa, identified Gwagwalada and Abuja Municipal Area Councils on highly probable flood risk area councils.
According to the statement, the outlook which cut across all the state’s of the federation has a total of 233 local government areas in 32 states and the FCT, which fall on the highly probable flood risk areas, while 212 local government areas in 35 States of the federation and the FCT fall within the moderate probable flood risk areas.
He said to mitigate the impact of flooding, the Agency has put in place a number of measures, which include a high level and technical assessment of all flood prone and vulnerable areas in the FCT with a high level technical partner, the FCDA, Department of Development Control, Engineering Services, Facility maintenance and management department, Abuja Environmental protection Board, Urban and regiional planning among others to identify and remove all objects obstructing the free flow of storm water.
It reads in part: “As part of measures to mitigate flooding in the FCT, Alhaji Idriss appealed to the area councils to strengthen their Local Emergency Management Committees to enable them respond to flood early warnings and carry out other mitigation strategies in their locality”.
Idriss also said that FEMA was intensifying efforts to convene an extended stakeholders conference of all professionals such as water and civil Engineering Department, Architects, Town planners, Builders and other relevant professionals involved in town planning, design and provision of engineering infrastructure. He informed that particular attention was being paid to all the vulnerable areas of the FCT.
According to the DG, FEMA would continue to strengthen and train the local divers and equip them adequately to tackle any emergency in all the area councils.
Idriss further stated that the FCT Minister ,Malam Mohammed Bello has directed that all structures obstructing the free flow of water must be removed to prevent the loss of lives and property of the residents of the FCT.
