The Federal Government has warned that River flooding will begin by the ending of July, saying 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are likely to be severely impacted.
The government also warned that continual flooding might also escalate the cholera presently ravaging some states.
Our correspondent reports that as of Wednesday, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said cholera outbreak has resulted in 63 deaths and 2,102 suspected cases.
Addressing journalists on the flood situation in the country, on Thursday, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, said what the country has been experiencing since May is flash/urban floods resulting from high rainfall intensities of long duration, poor and blocked drainage systems in the urban areas.
He said from the end of July, the country might start experiencing River flooding, which might be more devastating.
He listed states at high risk to include:
- Akwa Ibom
- Anambra
- Benue
- Bayelsa
- Cross River
- Delta
- Edo
- Jigawa
- Kogi
- Kebbi
- Kaduna
- Niger
- Nasarawa
- Ondo
- Ogun
- Rivers
- Taraba
- FCT
The Minister said the country was located at the lowest portion of River Niger Basin, which means that once the upper catchment of the Basin gets flooded, Nigeria should be prepared to experience flooding incidents.
On the situation with Lagdo dam in Cameroon, the Minister said the operators had informed the country that they are currently filling the dam for hydropower generation, adding that the flow situation at Wuroboki is relatively normal now and there is no cause for alarm.
On what the federal government is doing to mitigate the annual flooding from the release of water from Lagdo dam, the Minister said arrangements were almost completed to build buffer dams along the water channel to camp water from the dam.
He said the designs of those dams had been done and that the government is almost at the implementation stage.
On cholera, the minister warned that increasing flooding may worsen the ravaging outbreak, adding that a presidential committee has been set up to see how the outbreak can be tackled.
He said the committee was also looking at the issue of open defecation, which according to him, is another causal factor for cholera.
The minister urged the state, local governments, other stakeholders and the general public to take measures to prevent the ugly flooding menace of the past years.
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