MANY Nigerians have been rendered homeless as rains continue to pound communities for hours in some states.
At the receiving end of the heavy downpour are residents of Edo, Kogi, Kebbi and Kaduna states, who have lost homes, farmlands and means of livelihood to ravaging floods.
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) moved yesterday to avert further disaster. It warned those living by the banks of River Niger and its floodplains to immediately relocate over possible flooding.
The agency gave the warning in Abuja in a statement signed by its Director of Engineering Hydrology Clement Nze.
NIHSA’s warning came on a day President Muhammadu Buhari sympathised with the government and people of Kebbi State on the flood that ravaged 11 local government areas of the Northwest state.
Nze, who named the states likely to be flooded to include: Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Anambra, Delta and Bayelsa, said the Middle Niger portion of the Niger basin (Niger Republic) experienced high flows last week with the flood advancing into the Lower Niger (Nigeria).
He noted that both Kainji and Jebba Dams were already spilling water downstream with the level of water in Lokoja downstream of the confluence standing at 8.69m.
“This value has exceeded the corresponding value of 8.57 metre that occurred on August 29, 2012,” NIHSA’s spokesman said.
In a related development, the agency said the flooding that occurred in Kaduna on August 23 and August 24 had started arriving Shiroro Dam built on River Kaduna.
He warned: “In the event that Shiroro Dam equally starts spilling water, it will portend more danger downstream.
In May, the agency released the 2018 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) for the 36 states of the country, projecting that Sokoto, Niger, Benue, Anambra, Ogun-Osun, Cross River and Yobe states would have high risks of flooding.
It also listed that Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Ondo as states that might experience coastal flooding.
The agency attributed its outlook to a likely rise in the sea level and tidal surge, which would impact fishing and coastal transportation.
The outlook, which is a yearly projection by the agency, further indicated that flash and urban flood were expected to occur in Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, Yola, Abuja and Maiduguri.
Awka, Abakaliki, Birnin-Kebbi, Kano, Yenogoa, Abeokuta, Ado-Ekiti, Lokoja, Lafia, Makurdi, Calabar, Jos, Owerri, Osogbo, Ilorin and Nsukka, Gombe, Suleja, Karu, Nyanya, Abaji, Onitsha, Sapele, Hadejia and other major cities with poor drainage completed the list.
Presenting the outlook, Water Resources Minister Suleiman Adamu explained that going by the 2018 AFO, water levels on the River Niger and Benue among other major river systems, would rise and remain high during the rainy season.
He said the water level in some dams was rising and the storage capacity reducing.
Adamu warned that the development would cause a lot of the water to be spilled through the waterways.
Also, on July 15, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), had warned that many parts of the country were likely to experience flooding due to a shift in rainfall pattern caused by climate change.
NIMET Director-General Sani Mashi who gave the warning said that distortions had occurred in the pattern of rainfall leading to variation in the amount of rain expected in the country.
Prof. Mashi explained that in line with NIMET’s 2018 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP), so much water would be made available on the surface between the last week of July and end of August.
He said: “Once it rains, the ground cannot comfortably contain and absorb the water making it to run-off and resulting in so much water on the surface.
“Unless adequate provision is made to accommodate the amount of water that is running on the surface, definitely the likelihood of flood is going to be very high, especially in the areas that are adjoining the riverine locations,’’ he warned.
