Floods affected seven million in four months – NEMA

National Emergency Management Agency on Monday said more than seven million persons were affected by floods which hit parts of the country between July 1 and October 31, 2012.
This was contained in a provisional report by the agency on Monday.
It also said about two million Internally Displaced Persons were registered in the affected states.

The report from the agency read, “A total of 7,705,398 persons were affected by the floods between July 1, 2012 and October 31, 2012.
“Out of the affected population, 2,157,419 Internally Displaced Persons were registered across the affected states.
“About 363 persons died while 18, 282 people were treated for injuries they sustained during the flooding.
“While Adamawa and Kogi states recorded higher figures of casualties, 256 local government areas throughout the federation were adversely affected.”
Meanwhile, the South-South zone of NEMA has said buffer dams would have prevented the floods.
The Zonal Coordinator of the agency, Mr Umesi Emenike, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Emenike explained that the essence of the buffer dams was to contain excess water as well as reduce their speed.
He said, “The floods started from North Central especially in Lokoja, Minna, Jos and down to Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Cross River State.
“When the first flood started, we realised it was as a result of the release of water from dams so that the dams won’t collapse.
“Ordinarily, if we had buffer dams, it would have reduced the water speed but because they were not ready, the water just moved.
“And the tendency is that the water moved by the normal speed of the major rivers and naturally also, the water had to look for its level.
“Now, the water moved down from Cross River to parts of Akwa Ibom, another one moved from Edo and Delta into Bayelsa and then entered Rivers.”
Emenike said the excess water was eventually emptied into the ocean through Bayelsa and Rivers states.
He said the floods had receded because the source was also receding, adding that when the floods fully receded, the next stage would be to resettle the victims of the disaster.

The Punch