Residents of Edo State have been advised to prepare for flood as the rains come in.
The advice was given by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) following a meeting with Governor Godwin Obaseki over the weekend.
NEMA’s VM Muhammadu Muhammed (Rtd) urged the state government to put in more structures that will help mitigate the effect of an oncoming flood.
According to Muhammed, Edo State was among the highly probable flood-risk states based on predictions by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
He said:
“The prediction released by NIMET and NIHSA annual flood outlook indicates that 102 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 28 states fall within highly probable flood-risk areas, while 275 LGAs in the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) fall within moderately probable flood-risk areas, while the remaining 397 fall within the low probable flood-risk areas.
“This year’s outlook has predicted the highly probable flood-risk areas in Edo to include Etsako East and Esan South East LGAs, while the low probable flood-risk areas are Ikpoba Okha, Oredo, Etsako Central, Esan North East, and Ovia North East LG Areas.
“Government should carry out public enlightenment campaign to the vulnerable communities to undertake mitigation action and prepare to vacate to safe ground, identify safe locations for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps and distill drainage systems and canals to allow free flow of water.”
Muhammed also asked the governor to organize meetings to prepare all stakeholders for mitigation and response, as well as repositioning relief materials for prompt response after any flood incident.
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