Bracing For The Floods

THE rains are back with heavy flooding also staging a come-back. Nigeria over the years has battled flooding disasters across the states. Recently, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA ) identified states and local government areas prone to flooding in Nigeria, cautioning against environmental habits that compound the disaster. These include Niger, Kogi, Benue, Adamawa, Anambra, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states.

Heavy rainfall, severe winds, unusual high tide, tsunamis, or failure of dams, retention ponds, or other structures that retain the water are contributory factors.

Flooding can be exacerbated by increased amounts of impervious surface or by other natural hazards such as wildfires, which reduce the supply of vegetation that can absorb rainfall.

In Nigeria, floodwaters from Cameroun enter Nigeria through the Benue River, into the River Niger on its way to the sea.

In the last three decades, the impacts of flooding have increased from significant to threatening proportions, resulting in loss of lives and property, wreaking irreparable havoc to the citizens. This often leads to the collapse of houses, schools buildings and bridges. Market places and farmlands are submerged for weeks and sometimes are washed away. Serious flood disasters occurred in Ibadan in 1963, 1978, April 30, 1980, 1985, 1987 and 1990.

Flooding can be prevented if Nigerians take serious measures to combat it. The most basic thing about flooding in human settlements, especially urban areas, is to ensure that water is given its natural right of way on its way to the seas. Any blockage is a date with disaster in the future. That is why town planning authorities and other specialists charged with regulating building activities must ensure that houses are not built on waterways.

Citizens must also be sensitised to refrain from dumping refuse in gutters and drainages. Whenever the drains are de-silted, the trash should be properly disposed of, rather than being kept for the next rain to return it to the drainage. The local authorities have formed the habit of abandoning their responsibility to educate the populace and play their part in preventing human practices that aid flood disasters.

When flood disasters do occur as they are bound to do all over the world, governments should take it upon themselves to respond to the needs of victims. Those displaced from their homes must be provided with temporary shelters, while efforts are made to assist them to return to their normal livelihood as soon as possible. This is how it is done in more developed parts of the world where the welfare of the citizens are taken serious.

Law-abiding citizens who pay their taxes and vote for politicians during elections have the right to be catered for in times of need.