Nigeria’s worst climate related issue in over a decade – floods have killed 600+ people and displaced 1.4 million

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In 2012, the Niger and Benue rivers overflowed their banks the reported death toll at the time was under 500. It was the last major flood emergency between, July and October 2012, in over a decade. Fast forward to 2022, severe floods in Nigeria since September have caused the deaths of over 600 people and displaced 1.3 million from their homes, according to a government minister, in the most devastating episode of seasonal floods Nigeria has seen in a decade.

What’s going on?

Nigeria experiences annual flooding, especially in its coastal areas, but this year’s floods are the worst in a while. Climate change has caused rapid desertification in Nigeria, a rise in sea levels, and drought.

According to Aljazeera, the death toll from floods in Nigeria this year has increased to 603 as local authorities race to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated from their submerged homes. More than 1.3 million people have been displaced by the disaster, which has affected people across 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, the humanitarian affairs ministry said late on Sunday.

The situation has been so dire that Sadiya Umar Farouq, Nigeria’s minister of humanitarian affairs, has asked five state governments to prepare to evacuate residents living along flood plains. In Anambra, one of those states, 76 people died trying to flee the flood after an escape boat capsized. More than 200,000 houses and 266,000 acres of farmland have been completely or partially damaged, the minister said on Oct.16, warning states to “prepare for more flooding” and provide “medical supplies for a possible outbreak of water-borne diseases.”

The government efforts are hardly attending to the scale of damage unfolding around the country. At least 3,400sq km (1,300sq miles) of land has been inundated, worsening fears of food supply disruptions. Conflict already has threatened production in the northwest and central regions of Nigeria, which produce much of what the country eats.

Major Floods in Bayelsa, Anambra, and Kogi.

Bayelsa State and Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta have raised the alarm over floating corpses from submerged cemeteries in their areas. This came as several communities in Bomadi, Patani and Burutu local government areas of Delta State were yesterday sacked by the ravaging flood, with indigenes sleeping on top of Bomadi Bridge. More disaster was recorded in parts of Delta State yesterday as many villages in riverine Bomadi, Patani, and Burutu local government areas of the state were sacked by floods, with indigenes sleeping on Bomadi Bridge.

One-third of the land mass in Anambra State has been devastated by flood which has also taken 17 lives as of Tuesday. The floods have also caused the collapse of infrastructure, public and private buildings and means of livelihoods of residents, the deputy governor, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, said on Wednesday.

The central city of Lokoja is in one of the worst-affected areas – Kogi state – and residents here are doing their best to cope. Its capital, Lokoja, is at the confluence of two of West Africa’s biggest rivers – the river Benue and the river Niger. During the rainy season, the rivers overflow their banks, causing flooding. Experts there say the causes for Nigeria’s seasonal flooding are complex and include poor infrastructure and erosion, but climate change is adding to the issue. With further heavy rains forecast, the situation in Kogi state remains precarious and the existing flood waters are not expected to recede for another month.

What Next?

The flooding has worsened a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria, where violence, especially in the troubled northern region, has displaced more than three million people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

According to some reports, one of the causes of the floods was the release of water from a dam in neighboring Cameroon, resulting in large areas of farmland being submerged and threatening food security in the region.

“Climate change is real, as we are yet again discovering in Nigeria.

Schmale said during a press briefing last week.

Matthias Schmale, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria, said that climate change played a role in worsening the flooding. Rising temperatures have prompted more evaporation in the atmosphere, leading to more frequent and intense precipitation events and drought conditions.

We are calling on the respective state governments, local government councils and communities to prepare for more flooding by evacuating people living on flood plains to high grounds.

said Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs.

The Nigerian government has started the disbursement of relief items as its main response. 12,000 metric tons of food from Nigeria’s reserves will be sent to affected communities.

The United States has pledged $1 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to support the people affected by unprecedented flooding in Nigeria. The support which will come through the U.S. Agency for International Development, provides emergency shelter assistance, relief commodities, and hygiene kits to promote safe and healthy practices amid the ongoing cholera outbreak, and multipurpose cash assistance for people impacted by the devastating floods.

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