26th July, 2016
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency has announced that there will be flooding in 14 states and urged residents living in flood-prone areas to relocate.
According to the agency, most cities would experience heavy floods due to the rise in sea levels and tidal surge.
This was disclosed by the Director-General of the agency, Mr. Moses Beckley, during the public presentation of the 2016 Annual Flood Outlook in Abuja.
He warned that this year’s flooding would be higher than the one experienced in 2015
Some of the states, according to the DG, that would have areas that are likely to be submerged include Ogun, Lagos, Rivers, Calabar, Benue, Sokoto, Anambra, Imo, Cross River, Yobe, Osun, Kaduna, Oyo and Yola.
According to Beckley, “The expected inflows in the country for this year will be lower than that of 2012.
“Meanwhile, the predicted probable flood area coverage in 2016 is expected to be higher than the predicted probable flood as well as the observed value of 2015.
“The expected areas of river flooding this year are located in the following river basins, Niger, Benue, Sokoto-Rima, Anambra-Imo, Cross River, Niger Delta, Komadougu-Yobe, Ogun-Osun and several other sub-basins of the country.
“Some coastal areas such as Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, etc, are expected to experience flooding due to rise in sea level and tidal surge, while flash and urban flooding are likely to occur in Sokoto, Ibadan, Kaduna, Yola, Maiduguri, Makurdi, Hadejia and settlements/cities along the Nigeria coastal line.
“It is expected that those living along those places should keep safe distances and those in the areas where you have dams constructed should also be careful erecting structures close to where the dams are”, the NIHSA boss warned.