Flooding feared in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, others

By Gbenga Ogundare

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency has predicted flash flood in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Makurdi and Yola.

Speaking at the unveiling of the 2016 annual flood outlook, the Director General of the agency, Dr Moses Beckley has urged state governments to put in place artificial reservoirs to check the flow of the flood.

Nigeria has experienced its fair share of flooding over the years and its attendant consequences. In 2012, Nigeria witnessed what has been described as the most devastating flood in its history.

Since then, the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency has been making public the flood outlook for each year.

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This year’s prediction sees a higher flooding than last year and the areas to be affected are mostly urban areas.

The outlook also predicts that some of the nation’s rivers would overflow their banks .
It predicted river flooding in Niger, Benue, Sokoto-Rima, Anambra Imo, Cross River and Ogun-Osun rivers.

The outlook serves as an early warning to mitigate the risks of flooding and to guide government in taking necessary steps to reduce the impact of the flood.

The agency is hoping that relevant government agencies and policy makers are well prepared to respond effectively to the incidence of flood in their area following the release of the outlook.