These States risk serious flooding in September, NIHSA warns

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), has warned that nine states of the federation risk serious flooding beginning from September, 2020 going by an alert from the Niger Basin Authority.

According to NIHSA, states like Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Nasarawa and Kogi would be most hit because they are contiguous to River Niger.

It therefore asked states and relevant government agencies to clear blocked drainages and dredge river channels as a matter of urgency since Nigeria is located downstream other countries in the Niger Basin.

It also warned that poor drainage systems might cause flash and urban floods   in major cities like Abuja,Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ado-Ekiti, Osogbo, ,Asaba, Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Benin City, Abakaliki, Awka, Nsukka, Birnin–Kebbi, Sokoto, Lokoja, Kaduna, Suleja, Gombe, Yola, Makurdi and Lafia,

Recall that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) had in its 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) released recently warned of heavy flooding that would be caused by torrential rains.

It said that the earliest cessation date for rainfall in the southern part of the country is December 28 and September 26 for the North.

NIHSA urged communities along the coastal lines to move to safe grounds because the remaining days of this month, September and October would come with heavy rains

The agency’s Director-General, Clement Onyeaso Nze, however, said in a statement that they were monitoring the flood situation along the River Benue axis

According to him , information  from the regional Niger Basin Authority (NBA) headquarters in Niamey, Niger Republic,  had it that last Sunday, the flood level of River Niger was 6.60 metres, an “ already Red Alert zone.”

“This flood magnitude sighted in Niamey on August 23, 2020, is expected to arrive in Nigeria through Kebbi State around September 6, 2020. Operators of Kainji and Jebba Dams have long been alerted to take appropriate measures in the operation of the reservoirs.

“Kainji Dam is now spilling water at the rate of 1,000 m3/s, i.e. 86.4 million cubic metres/day. This means that communities downstream Kainji and Jebba Dams could be flooded. The Shiroro Dam on Kaduna River is still impounding, though there is the possibility of spilling water in the weeks ahead.

“The beginning of the last week of August 2020 witnessed the return of rains in most parts of the country. Expectedly, this will be accompanied by increasing saturation and wetness of the soil. Under this condition of saturated soil, it is expected that any rainfall of high intensity and long duration might translate into flooding in most parts of the country.