Mohammed Shosanya
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said its 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 and 32,837 houses damaged.
It also said 16,488 hectares of farmlands with crops also destroyed.
The agency has commenced deployment of relief items to complement efforts by the various state governments to provide succor to persons affected by the floods.
NEMA further said it 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 timely and appropriate support to the affected persons.
A statement by NEMA,said that the timely response to the flood incidents is in furtherance to the early preparations made in deployment of search and rescue teams and placement of all NEMA zonal and operation offices on alert.
“Furthermore, NEMA shall continue with public sensitization as well as grassroots awareness through advocacies and workshops on solid waste management to raise public consciousness on clearance of blocked drainages and water ways.
`So far based on 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 and 32,837 houses damaged as well as 16,488 hectares of farmlands with crops also damaged.’
The Director General NEMA,Zubaida Umar re-affirmed commitment of the agency 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 water ways should relocate to safe higher grounds ahead of the peak of the raining season.
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.
In a related development,the Director General NEMA has advised farmers not to panic over the temporary dry season being experienced in some states, noting that the situation will soon be over as contained in the seasonal climate predictions release earlier in the year by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
