2023 Flood: 33,983 persons already affected – NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says no fewer than 33,983 persons are already affected by the 2023 flooding in different parts of the country.

Hajiya Fatima Kasim, Director, Planning, Research and Forecasting, NEMA, said this at the Emergency Coordination Forum Meeting, on Thursday in Abuja.

She said that flooding which had become a yearly occurrence in the country, is usually caused by various factors which include improper building and infrastructure design and construction.

She listed other factors to include; poor drainage system, poor solid waste management, harmful land-use practices such as deforestation and climate change, among others.

She said that the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction released by NiMet earlier in the year predicted a normal to above-normal rainfall patterns for the country.

She added that the Annual Flood Outlook forecasted by NIHSA also predicted that 178 local government areas in 32 states and FCT are within the high flood risk areas.

She stated that in the last seven months, some data had been collated by the agency on the figure of people affected so far by flood disasters in the country.

“As at Aug. 9, the following data has been collated in respect of 2023 flooding.

“Number of states affected – 10 states; Number of persons affected – 33,983; Number of persons displaced – 7,353; Number of persons injured – 75; Number of deaths – 5; Number of houses totally damaged – 1,679 and Farmlands totally damaged – 866 hectares,” she said.

Earlier in his remarks, Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, NEMA, said the agency deemed it fit to resuscitate the Emergency Coordination Forum meeting to give adequate attention to disaster management.

“The emergency coordination forum is an avenue for stakeholders to come together to discuss humanitarian challenges being faced by the citizens as a result of disasters and emergencies.

“This is to foster partnership, collaboration and cooperation among relevant stakeholders in emergency management in the country,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Clement Nze, Director-General, NIHSA, added that so far not less than 20 states and the FCT had experienced one degree of flooding or the other.

He added that over 46 LGAs had also been affected and several casualties recorded and houses submerged.

He said that most of the flood incidents recorded so far were as a result of overflow of silted rivers, channels and poor or blocked drainage systems.

He added that these resulted from localised rainfall that generated from flash and urban flooding in the urban areas and their metropolis.

On his part, Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that the NBS 2022 flood assessment exercise recorded a high impact of flooding on agriculture and properties.

“The NBS Flood Assessment exercise in collaboration with NEMA and UNDP, gathered information on flood-affected areas and the socio-economic consequences.

“Six states were assessed: Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Jigawa, Kogi, and Nasarawa, with Jigawa having the highest percentage of affected households, which is 90.7 per cent.

“The assessment focused on four key indicators: impact on businesses, food availability, health effects, and access to basic services.

“The report showed that the consequences of the flooding on agriculture and properties was very significant,” he said.