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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has disclosed that 27 states have been battered by flooding, with 227,494 persons affected, 32,837 houses damaged and 16, 488 hectares of farmlands submerged.
Its director general, Zubaida Umar, advised farmers not to panic over the temporary dry season being experienced in some states, noting that the situation would soon be over as contained in the seasonal climate predictions released by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
Umar, in a statement yesterday by the Head of Press Unit, Manzo Ezekiel, said: “So far, the statistics from the NEMA Emergency Operations Centre established for the flood monitoring and coordination of resource deployment indicates that 27 states have been impacted with a total of 227, 494 persons affected, 32,837 houses damaged and 16,488 hectares of farmland with crops also damaged.”
According to her, NEMA has responded to the recent flood incidents that devastated some communities across the country and commenced the conduct of assessment of the impacts with the various States Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) to provide support to the affected persons.
She explained that NEMA’s timely response to the flood incidents was in furtherance to the early preparations made by the Agency, in deployment of search and rescue teams and placement of all NEMA zonal and operation offices on alert.
In addition, she said NEMA had commenced deployment of relief items to complement efforts by the various state governments to provide succour to persons affected by the floods.
She assured Nigerians that NEMA would continue with public sensitisation as well as grassroots awareness through advocacy and workshops on solid waste management to raise public consciousness on clearance of blocked drainages and waterways.
Umar re-affirmed NEMA’s commitment to coordinate and provide necessary support towards efficient disaster management in the country.
She reiterated that communities at risk of flooding and those living along waterways should relocate to safe higher grounds ahead of the peak of the rainy season.
Furthermore, she urged all stakeholders, especially SEMAs and community leaders to be ready to activate at short notice, plans and preparations for flood with the increasing incidents in some parts of the country.
