2 billion people to be affected by flood by 2050

Dr Anthony Anuforom, NIMet Director General, said at the launch of the upgraded national digital flood model yesterday in Abuja that flood with other hydro-meteorological disasters accounts for about 90 percent of lives lost in natural disasters, affecting over 520 million people across the globe and resulting in up to 250,000 deaths in a single year.
“Memories of Nigeria’s 2012 flood disaster are still very fresh in our minds. The situation is expected to worsen due to current trends in changes and variability in climate,” he added.
He noted that in order to ensure the effectiveness of any early warning signal (EWS), a good understanding of the causative factors of the expected hazards was required. “In the case of flood, rainfall regime/pattern remains one of the primary causes of flood.”
Mrs Laurentia Mallam, Minister of Environment, calls on stakeholders to take advantage of the launched digital model in flood management. “This administration is seriously committed to ensuring a sustainable quality environment devoid of perennial havoc occasioned by flood menace. It is this commitment that necessitates the development and presentation of National Digital flood model as a new strategy for flood management in the country,” she said.
She called for synergy among the various stakeholders in order to realize the purpose for which the model was developed and launched.  
The model according to the minister was specifically developed for improved flood monitoring and forecast nationwide to ensure effective environmental governance and prompt responses to impending flood disasters.