The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said the country will witness flood this year.
Though the level of the flood and locations to be affected is yet to be ascertained, the agency said early preparation would mitigate the likely impact.
Last year, the country witnessed a flood, which led to the deaths and displacement of many people across the country.
To however mitigate the impact, some staff of NEMA and other critical stakeholders in disaster management are undergoing training to aid their preparedness and response during emergencies.
The Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed stated this in Abuja on Monday at a seminar organised for NEMA stakeholders.
Speaking on floods and efforts made to mitigate its impact, Ahmed said: “Records indicate that 662 persons have lost their lives, 3,174 others have suffered injuries and 2,430,445 individuals have been displaced by the floods. Thousands of houses, hectares of farmlands, and several critical national assets were destroyed by the raging floods.
“It is going to flood again this year, there is no doubt about it but how severe it going to be is what we don’t know for now but it is going to flood again”.
On how to mitigate the impact of the flood, he said: “After this training and the release of the Seasonal Climate Prediction by NiMet and the release of the flood outlook by NIHSA, we will gather stakeholders to analyse and interpret them and then attach vulnerable areas mapping and send it out to States. We will write to the governors.
“We have seen one or two mistakes from our engagement last year. We have to collaborate with all the States and we cannot work if NEMA is moving on one side and the States are moving on another side. We have to collectively work together.
“So, we will identify areas and show them (governors) the areas that will be affected.”
He also said NEMA in collaboration with State governments and other partners are currently working towards the long-term recovery of impacted communities across the nation.
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