…35 states prone to rising water levels
The National Hydrological Services Agency recently warned that 35 states in Nigeria would experience severe flooding as the rainy season begins due to the flooding in eight major rivers across the country and advised residents living in flood prone areas to relocate.
Anambra, Benue, Ogun, Osun, Niger, Imo and Niger Delta areas are to experience severe flooding this year, while Lagos and Ondo will witness coastal flooding due to the rise in sea level and tidal surge, the Agency, warned. Others include Niger, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Kwara, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Taraba, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Delta and Bayelsa. Some others are Imo, Rivers, Enugu, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Abia, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Kano, Jigawa, and Edo.
“This is a seasonal occurrence and attributable to a number of causes chief among which is rise in water level, accompanied by poor drainage pattern, exacerbated by the actions of man through desertification, carbon emissions, distortions of ecological systems and others” said Lukman Adeoti, associate professor of geophysics at Geosciences department, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos.
Studies conducted by the UK-based Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), led by an international team of scientists show that global warming is responsible for a tripling in the frequency of extreme West African Sahel storms and floods observed in just the last 35 years.
Christopher Taylor, a Meteorologist at CEH, and researchers from partner institutions including Grenoble Alpes University in France, also suggest that climate change will see the Sahel experience many more instances of extreme rain in the future.
Moses Beckley, Director General, National Hydrological Services Agency said “the agency is sensitising the general public, especially those living in flood prone areas, on probably flooding events and advising them to take proactive steps to avoid loss of lives and property, damage to crucial infrastructure, disruption of socio-economic activities and in some cases, displacement of people in the affected areas.”
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
