Prepare Ahead for Flooding, NIHSA warns Nigerians

Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has alerted the government, stakeholders and all citizens to use this period of dry season to prepare ahead for 2020 flooding.

NIHSA Director General, Mr. Clement Nze, gave the warning while briefing newsmen in Abuja yesterday.

Nze lamented that Nigeria currently doesn’t have enough dams, saying more dams would help to mitigate floods.

He explained that with the increasing global population and the expanding activities of man, flooding would continue to persist, hence the need to control human activities, environmental adjustment and purposefully adopting actions in certain areas that would make adjustment possible.

According to him, “Flooding problem is a global environmental issue which is faced by many countries worldwide, particularly in areas close to low lying terrains and river valleys. Over the past years, there have been increasing concerns that human actions and natural catastrophes have been adversely impacting the environment, posing serious ecological and environmental hazards.

“Though flood is a natural environmental phenomenon, it can be greatly accelerated by human-induced activities as it is the case worldwide. Some floods may result in major disasters involving structural and erosion damages, disruption of socio-economic activities, loss of lives and properties, displacement of people, destruction of agricultural land and contamination of water and environment in general.”

The director general said this is the appropriate time to construct drainages where they are necessary (but not provided), dredge river channels, clear blocked gutters and drainages, and pull down structures that are within the floodplains and flood paths.