More than 1.3 million people were displaced by the worst floods to hit Nigeria in a decade, which also claimed more than 600 lives and destroyed more than 200,000 homes.
According to BBC News, the administration has placed the responsibility for the unfolding calamity on severe rainfall, the climate issue, dam releases connected to the high precipitation, and other factors. In part because of the increased moisture in warmer air due to climate change, intense downpour events are more likely.
According to National Emergency Management Agency Director General Mustapha Habib Ahmed, the Flood Disaster’s Scope Across the Nation Is Massive.
According to NASA, Nigeria’s rainy season normally lasts from April to October. According to Reuters, the current flooding is the result of heavy rain that has accumulated since the beginning of the summer and a release of water from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon.
According to CNN, the recent floods are the country’s worst since 2012. However, this year’s flood levels and death toll are both higher. Water levels hit 42 feet a decade ago, while the most recent figure provided to CNN was 43 feet. The 2012 floods left 363 people dead and 600,000 people homeless, but the numbers today are around twice that.
Sadly, as of today, October 16, 2022, over 603 lives have been lost, according to a statement made by Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development.
1,302,589 people have been relocated, 2,504.095 people have been affected, 2,407 people have been hurt overall, 82,053 dwellings have been fully destroyed, and 121,318 have been partially destroyed. While 332,327 hectares, including numerous highways and other vital infrastructure, were completely destroyed, 108,392 hectares of cropland were partially destroyed.
According to Reuters, there are floods in 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states. However, according to Kogi’s governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello, some of the worst are found there, as CNN reported.
NASA published satellite photographs on October 13 that showed the Niger and Benue rivers inundating Lokoja, the state’s capital.
Khalid Yahaya Othman, a city resident, told Reuters that he had never witnessed such a thing.
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According to Him, the Floodwaters Even Reached His Gasoline Tanks.
According to NASA, there have been 600,000 displaced by the flooding in the northern region of the state of Anambra, directly south of Koji.
It is depressing. People are suddenly left without homes and become beggars in a matter of weeks. Regardless of their wealth, the displacement has drastically decreased them. Chiamaka Ibeanutold, a certified nurse from Anambra The Post in Washington.
It’s a terrible scenario that might happen more frequently in the future. As the country’s waters warm, more flooding is forecast by the government’s 2020 climate change dossier, but many states lack the modern infrastructure that would enable them to adapt.
People who reside in floodplains frequently lack the funds to relocate, which forces them to remain in their homes, which would inevitably flood after the waters recede, according to a report by BBC News.
First published on EcoWatch, the article titled “Flooding in Nigeria Kills 603 and Displaces More Than 1.3 Million”
