Official reports claim that one of Nigeria’s deadliest flood disasters, which has resulted in the deaths of its inhabitants, is currently occurring. Farmland has been degraded; homes demolished; roads and bridges washed away. Humanitarian disasters and worries about escalating food inflation have been unleashed by this act of nature’s wrath, which has been made worse by the negligence of public officials. Ironically, the disaster was forewarned, which suggests that its effects could have been lessened if preventative precautions had been implemented. But the warnings were ignored, as is typical of administration in this region of the world.
According to Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development, 603 persons had perished nationwide as a result of this year’s floods as of October 16.
1,302,589 people were forced to leave their homes, 82,053 dwellings were completely damaged, and 2,407 people suffered injuries.
The bad news is that till the end of November, states including Anambra, Delta, Cross River, Bayelsa, and Rivers have been cautioned to be on guard against the plague.
In the impacted areas, residents who live in flood planes have been warned to evacuate.
Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited in Rivers State has been forced into a force majeure as a result of the flooding, suggesting that gas shortages are about to occur.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency issued its Seasonal Climate Forecast for 2022 on February 15 and warned of greater rainfall and flooding than in 2012.
The Nigerian Hydrological Survey Agency then issued a warning regarding the yearly flood forecast.
The nation’s states were advised to assume leadership by other pertinent federal authorities.
The proactive measures end there.
Unfortunately, unless a disaster occurs, the public never takes seriously information regarding security threats in Nigeria.
Otherwise, at-risk states were able to heed the warning and at least evacuate vulnerable individuals in time thanks to the lessons learned from the 2012 floods and following comparable incidents.