By Daniel Tyokua
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday, said about 1.6 million people have been affected by flooding nationwide between April and September 2024.
Director – General of the Agency, Hajia Zubaida Umar disclosed this during the 2024 downscaling of flood early warning strategies for early actions event in Birnin Kebbi.
Umar, represented by Dr Daniel Obot, the agency’s Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, also revealed that 634,035 people were displaced while 94,741 houses were submerged.
She said the early warning strategies aimed to integrate direct risk communication and engagement approach to disseminate early warning messages for early actions at the state, LG, and community levels.
”The rainfall and flood advisories contained in the Season Climate Prediction (SCP), and Annual Flood Outlooks (AFO) of Nigeria, Meteorological Agency and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), respectively, have provided us with early warning alerts.
”Consequently, all of us are expected to take actions that will drastically reduce the adverse impacts of floods on the entire lands and Nigerian population, especially for the most vulnerable persons living in communities at risk of flooding,” she said.
Umar said the statistics from the National Emergency Coordination Centre (EOC) of NEMA as of Sept. 13, 176 LGAs in 30 states including the FCT were affected as against the 148 LGAs and 31 states predicted by NIHSA.
