The National Emergency Management Agency has warned Kwara residents of an impending high and moderate flooding in five Local Government Areas.
Mrs Zubaida Umar, Director-General of NEMA, issued the warning on Tuesday in Ilorin during the 2024 Downscaling of Flood Early Warning Systems at the state level.
She identified Pategi, Edu, Kaiama, Asa, and Baruten as Local Government Areas with high and moderate flood risk.
The DG, who was represented by NEMA’s Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr Daniel Obot, urged the Kwara government to take aggressive steps to prevent floods in the state.
She emphasised the program’s importance in preventing deaths and livelihoods during the rainy season through effective early intervention.
According to her, the 2024 rainy season suggests that several Kwara Local Government Areas will continue to experience flooding.
Umar added that this emphasises the importance of launching and supporting the programme to downscale flood early warning and risk mitigation messages to the grassroots.
She cited the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook from the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency, stating that 31 States and 148 LGAs were expected to be in the high-risk area for flooding.
She also stated that 35 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, and 249 LGAs are classified as modern flood risk regions.
“The remaining 377 LGAs are forecasted for the low flood risk areas. These flood risk areas are presented with their degree of vulnerability to serve as a tool for governments at all levels to develop risk reduction measures to avert disaster losses during this rainy season.
“Similarly, sectors of agriculture and food security, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), education, health, transportation, and persecution security amongst others are to set up mechanisms for disaster preparedness and risk reduction based on the early action strategies,” she said.
Professor Saba Mamman-Jubril, Secretary to the State Government, responded by commending the Agency for their preemptive steps.
Jubril, who represented Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the ceremony, emphasised the need of dykes or levees, which are embankments built along a riverbank or coastal shoreline to prevent flooding from flowing onto land.
He recognised the necessity for periodic dredging, the construction of additional buffers, and aforestation to reduce the risks of flooding in settlements.
