By Fortune Eromosele, ABUJA

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has disclosed that no fewer than 33,983 persons are already affected by the 2023 flood in different parts of the country.

Fatima Kasim, Director, Planning, Research and Forecasting, NEMA, made this known at the Emergency Coordination Forum Meeting, on Thursday in Abuja.

She said that flooding which had become a yearly occurrence in the country, and was usually caused by various factors which she noted included improper building in construction and infrastructure design.

According to her, “As at August 9, the following data has been collated in respect of 2023 flooding. Number of states affected – 10 states; Number of persons affected – 33,983; Number of persons displaced – 7,353; Number of persons injured – 75; Number of deaths – 5; Number of houses totally damaged – 1,679 and farmlands totally damaged – 866 hectares”.

Earlier in his remarks, the Director General, NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed said the Agency has set in motion mechanisms for emergency preparedness, mitigation and response activities across the country.

He explained that under an emergency coordination forum, the agency is taking various steps to prepare for and mitigate possible flood disaster this year, at various levels in partnership with critical stakeholders.

“We have already started experiencing flood in some parts of the country this year. This calls for concerted effort so as to address it and many other disasters.

“The ECF is therefore an avenue for stakeholders to come together to discuss humanitarian challenges being faced by the citizens as a result of these disasters/emergencies and to proffer ways of mitigating their impacts on citizens.

“You will recall that the 2022 flood disaster claimed 665 lives, displaced2,437,411 persons and affected 4,476,867 persons,” he said.

Listing some of the key states considered high risk to floods this year, Director General, NIHSA, Engineer Clement Nzeh, said the 2023 Annual Flood Outlook, (AFO), prediction unveils the hydrological year and the onset of the rains for Nigeria.

According to him, “The high flood risk states as predicted in the AFO are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, and Edo.

Others are “Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, as well as Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT)”.