The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has warned against a high amount of rainfall which may trigger flooding in some states in September, based on the rainfall distribution recorded in the country in July and August 2022.
The general-manager, public relations, Muntari Ibrahim disclosed this in a statement made available over the weekend.
States at a high risk of flooding include Kebbi and Jigawa in the northwest, Borno Bauchi and Taraba in the northeast, Plateau in the north-central and Bayelsa in the south-south.
Other states that may experience flash floods include Kano, Adamawa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti.
“The saturated state of the soil moisture across the country in July and heavy rainfall recorded in August may make most places experience varying degrees of flooding, ranging from high, medium, low and flash floods in September.
“Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Kano, Borno, Gombe and Nasarawa states recorded over 300mm, which represents over 40 per cent of long-term, normal rainfall for those places in one month. Places around the southwestern part of the country, however, recorded less than 200mm as a result of the long dry spell associated with ‘August Break’ in those areas.
“It further stated that places with major river channels may experience probable high risk of flood events due to accumulation of water already on the river channels which may not be able to contain any additional water.”
NiMet advised state emergency management agencies to intensify adaptative, mitigative and response mechanisms while states expected to experience degrees of flood episodes were advised to begin their awareness campaigns through field extension workers for possible flood activities within September, especially in high-risk areas.
