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The
National Emergency Management Agency has said that 104 persons have
lost their lives in the floods that have ravaged the North Central zone
of the country in the last two months.
NEMA Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Mohammed
Abdulsalam, who revealed this on Thursday said more than 50,000 people
had been displaced by the floods.
The North Central zone is made up of
Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa Niger, Plateau and Kwara states. Apart from the
North Central zone, massive flooding has also affected states in the
North Eastern states of Bauchi and Adamawa.
Abdulsalam said the majority of those
affected were women and children who were going through hardships that
required urgent intervention.
He said that the Federal Government,
through NEMA, had spent over N300m to purchase relief materials and
drugs, among others, to provide succour to the victims.
The coordinator said that the excessive
flooding being experienced in about 26 states of the federation was due
to the release of water from dams, opening of spill ways to release
excess waters, blockage of drainage system and heavy rainfall.
Also on Thursday, the National Emergency
Management Agency warned that over a million Nigerians could be killed
if a dam in Cameroun burst.
The agency made this known at the
presentation of a manual to prevent such an occurrence. The manual,
which was endorsed on Thursday at a ceremony in Abuja by stakeholders,
aims to put measures in place to mitigate flood waters from the lake
from affecting the people of Benue State.
According to the agency, the Lake Nyos
Disaster Response Manual was produced to “proactively prepare for the
disaster that may arise from the possible collapse’’ of the Lake Nyos
Dam in Western Cameroon.
Speaking at the ceremony, the
Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammed Sidi, said Lake Nyos was close
to Nigeria and that a 2005 UNDP report had predicted that the dam was
at “a point of potential collapse’’.
Sidi,
who was represented by NEMA’s Director of Administration, Dr. Zanna
Muhammad, said the report predicted that the collapse might be caused by
gradual erosion from rain, wind and lake waters, or as a result of
violent volcanic eruption.
The DG explained that the report
mentioned the possibility of the breakdown of the dam within 10 years,
adding that the eventual failure of the dam would result in the
discharge of about 55 million cu. metres of water which would result in
flooding downstream.
“It is estimated that between Cameroon
border and River Benue, 50 settlements, including Katsina-Ala,
Kashimbilla, Waya, Manga, Gamovo, Andie, Terwegh and over 15,000
hectares of land will be flooded.
“Also, over one million people and 20,000 heads of cattle and other livestock will be affected and could perish,” he said.
Sidi said that financial losses had been
estimated to be in billions of naira, comprising of crops, residential
and commercial structures, utilities and infrastructure, including roads
and bridges and other services.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological
Agency has warned Nigerians to take precautions against violent winds
that may occur during the dry season, due to the effects of climate
change.
The Director-General of NIMET, Dr Anthony Anuforom, gave the warning in Abuja on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
Anuforom said that windy weather was
expected during the dry season, following more heavy rains that are
likely to lead to more floods till October. He cautioned people not to
stay under threes during the period.
He said, “We are transiting now from
rainy to dry season; the kinds of things we may experience are violent
winds. Therefore, we advise people to avoid staying under trees.
“The reason why we alert people is for them to know ahead of time and take necessary precautions.
“We have no ability to protect natural disasters but the ability to observe what the weather is and inform the people early.”
In February, Lagos experienced gusts of
violent wind which killed five persons and destroyed property estimated
at millions of naira.
Areas affected by the violent wind were Yaba, Obalende, Ikoyi, Ijeshatedo, Jakande and Ejigbo.
The Metereological Manager of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport who spoke to The PUNCH had put the speed of the wind at 74 miles per hour.
Anuforom noted that if forecasts by the
agency were strictly adhered to it could help save the situation, adding
that any emergency situation could only surprise people unexpectedly if
there were no early warnings.
“If adequate disaster risk measures are
taken, the number of deaths will decrease because people would have
known what to expect,’’ Anuforom said.
