The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has called on residents of Niger and Kwara to adhere to the Seasonal Climate Prediction by the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMet) and the Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
Head, NEMA Minna Operations Office, Hajiya Zainab Sai’du, made the call in a statement to commemorate the 2022 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDR) in the state on Thursday.
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Sai’du explained that the call becomes necessary to avoid the reoccurrence of the heavy 2022 flood that ravaged and inundated several communities across the two states.
She added that the Seasonal Climate Prediction and the Annual Flood Outlook constitute the flood early warning mechanism to forestall and mitigate flood disasters in the country.
According to her, findings by the agency revealed that many communities affected along the tributaries of river Niger did not heed the warnings made available by Seasonal Climate Prediction and the Annual Flood Outlook.
She, however, appealed to media organisations to take up the task of disseminating early warning information on disasters to the people.
Sai’du noted that disaster management is a humanitarian activity that “requires all hands to be on deck in order to reduce the occurrence of events and phenomena that leads to the loss of lives and property”.
She said that it was disheartening that while some people respond to the flood early warnings, usually many other people chose to turn deaf ears to these warnings which had continued to have a negative impact on communities in Niger and Kwara.
She added that NEMA, in executing its mandate, would continue to initiate activities that would ensure that early action was taken to reduce losses and reduce disaster to the barest minimum. (NAN)
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