Heavy flood is coming to 28 states, NEMA warns

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says there will be flood in 102 local government areas in 28 states across the country, TopNaija reports.

In a statement on Friday, Muhammadu Muhammed, NEMA director-general, said the yearly seasonal rainfall prediction (SRP) and annual flood outlook (AFO) released by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) predicted the floods in June.

The director-general said Kaura and Zaria local government areas in Kaduna state are among the high-risk areas.

Muhammed said state emergency management agencies should sensitise residents and be ready to evacuate communities.

He also advised governments to organise state humanitarian coordination forum meetings in order to prepare stakeholders for mitigation and response to floods when they hit.

“That refuse, weeds, water hyacinths should be removed from drainages, water channels and all avenues for river run-offs so as to allow free flow of flood waters,” the director-general said. In June, an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry took over parts of Lagos.

Marina, Lekki, Dopemu, Iyana-Ipaja, Egbeda, Ikeja and Ajah were some of the areas affected by the floods in the state.