ENVIRONMENT Flooding: ‘Kano, Lagos, Delta, 23 others at high risk’

Twenty six 26 states across the federation and 96 local government areas are expected to experience high flood in the next few months, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) predicted in its 2017 flood outlook.

The Director General, NIHSA, Dr Moses Beckley, said another 231 local government areas from other states fall under the moderate flood risk areas.

He said the flooding is categorized into three areas and states that are likely to experience high risk flooding. These include Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe, Lagos, Delta, Yobe, Kano, Imo, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Taraba. Adamawa, Kogi, Borno, Ebonyi, Anambra, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Cross River, Kaduna, Jigawa, Abia, Benue and Kogi.

Beckley said the expected areas for river flooding in 2017 were located in the Niger and Benue River Basins, Sokoto-Rima Basin, Anambra-Imo Basin, Cross River, Niger Delta and other basins in the country.

Coastal flooding are expected in Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Ondo and Lagos while Flash and Urban flooding are expected in Ibadan, Lagos, Kaduna, Yola, Maiduguri, Hadejia, Makurdi and others.

He said two models of Geospatial Stream Flow Model and Soil and Water assessment tools (SWAT) were used to prepare the outlook to sensitize the public towards proactive measures and provide government information to embark on preventive and mitigation measures.

He said the amount of transboundary water coming from outside the country, through the Niger and Benue, is over 80 billion cubic meters and with the rains that come down adds up to Nigeria having over 200 billion cubic meter as run off.

“With this water put together, you will see that the quantum of water on the Nigeria surface in too much and that is why everything must be done to harness the water and allow it to flood through the major channels and tributaries,” he said.

He said the number of people vulnerable to devastating flood is expected to continue to rise due to large scale urbanization, population growth in flood prone areas, deforestation, climate change and rising sea levels.