“Brace up for more floods”- NiMet warns Nigerians

The death toll as a result of flood in various states has reached 500.

Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has told Nigerians to brace up for more floods, after obtaining information from the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).

This information was revealed by NiMet Director General Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu during a workshop on Hydro-meteorological Status and Outlook System (HydroSOS) held in Abuja.

According to him, the information depicts that there would be more flooding in North Central and Southern states due to increased rainfall and open dams from neighbouring countries.

He said: “from the information, we’re getting from NIHSA we’re going to see more floods.”

“The rain is now concentrating more on the North Central and the southern states. So that will be a combination of short-duration, high-intensity rain, with riverine flooding.”

“So we’re going to see more of these floods in the North-Central states as we are seeing in Kogi and SouthEastern and Southwestern states.

“Remember, we issued the forecast in February and we followed up with the monthly updates that we’re going to have above-normal rainfall in most parts of the country. So in terms of the rainfall-induced floods, we’ve seen the peak but remember we told you that this rainwater gets collected into the reservoirs and dams, and whenever they are filled, it gets spilt. So, the Lagbo Dam was released on 13th of September. And also Kainji and Shiroro dams were released. So what we’re witnessing now is riverine flooding.

“And from the information getting from NIHSA, we’re going to see more floods. And now the rain is concentrating on the North Central and the southern states. So we’re going to see more of these floods in the north-central states as we are seeing in Kogi and also southeastern and southwestern states as we are beginning to see in many parts of the South- West.

“In Africa, water-related hazards such as flood, drought etc has become a major cause of food insecurity, strains on livelihoods, health risks and conflicts in many parts of the continent.”

Although many think that the Lagbo Dam in Cameroon is the cause of the terrible flood across states in Nigeria, Matazu argues that the flood was primarily caused by rainfall and not the released dams.

He added this has been heightened by people who build on flood plains and also the rise of water levels in River Niger and Benue.