363 lives lost, 5,851 injured in 2012 floods —NEMA

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that records from various flood ravaged states in 2012 showed that a total of 363 lives were lost, 5,851 were injured and several millions of people were affected by flood disasters last year.

Speaking at a workshop on ‘Strengthening Mechanism for Community Based Disaster, Early Warning System and 2013 Flood Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness’ in Ilorin on Tuesday, the NEMA zonal coordinator for Abuja FCT, Kwara, Kogi and Niger States, Mr Ishaya Chonoko, said awareness creation and sensitisation carried out in the beginning of 2012 helped to reduce the level of destruction and fatality.

“There is need to take NIMET’s rainfall predictions very seriously and prepare adequately. In the end, the energy and resources that will be saved can be channelled into other productive areas of human endeavours,” he said.

Mr Chonoko also said that the awareness creation and sensitisation exercise was aimed at strengthening mechanisms for community based disaster response, early warning systems and identifying states’ contingency plans on the implications of 2013 NIMET rainfall predictions.

He also urged stakeholders in the zone to be realistic and responsive in the collective efforts at strengthening existing synergy that was aimed at disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.