Latest news with #NigerStateEmergencyManagementAgency
Gulf Today
05-06-2025
- Climate
- Gulf Today
150 killed in Niger province due to torrential rain
Torrential rain in the northern Nigerian state of Niger killed 150 people, and left thousands homeless. It is not yet the height of the rainy season in Nigeria. People feel that the enormous flooding due to the rain must be due to a dam burst upstream. But the destruction has left the people wrecked, and the authorities scrambling to rescue people and provide for them. More people must have died even as bodies are swept away in the Niger River. Mokwa, with a population of 400,000, is the main town in the Niger state, the fourth largest in the country, and it serves as a transit point of commerce between the north and the south. Like many urban habitations in most developing countries, Mokwa is concrete jungle with an inadequate drainage system. And so are the other urban habitations in the province and in the country. The Nigerian Red Cross Society is engaged in rescue operations along with the provincial authorities. Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesperson for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said that at least 3,018 people have been displaced and 265 houses destroyed. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in the Niger state, said 121 injured people were in hospital and 100 were missing. Adamu said, 'We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out.' Farida Awalu, who lost seven of her children in the deluge from a family of 16, said, 'My hope is to see the remaining bodies and give them a decent burial and have closure.' Four of her children have been found and buried. Flood risk analyst Ugonna Nkwunonwo of the University of Nigeria says, 'The amount of rain you expect in a year could probably come in one or two months, and people are not prepared for that kind of rainfall.' Floods are the result of two things. One, excessive rainfall, and second lack of drainage systems in the urban centres along the course of the river. The tried-and-tested method is that of building dams. But it has been found that the dams are not much of help in the face of heavy rain because the rain can overrun the dams and unleash destruction along the way. It would require an alert system, and properly planned cities which can absorb the rain with the help of properly laid out drainage systems. But these are never in place because priorities of those in power are always dictated by the compulsions of power tussles. Wrong and short-term solutions are favoured, which cause more damage to the people and to the terrain. Many of the experts have now begun to blame all natural disasters on that ubiquitous cause, climate change. Climate change is a real problem and challenge and it needs to be tackled at many levels. But there are local vagaries of weather which mostly dictate things like rainfall, and it is necessary for the local governments to be able to deal with them. Precautionary measures are in the hands of the administration. With improved meteorological data, it is possible to predict rainfall, and even local storms. Local authorities say that they have warned people to shift to higher ground from the river bank, but the poor people cannot make the move as easily as an administrative order is issued. The emergency measures taken after a natural disaster strikes should be taken before the disaster happens. The people impacted by natural disasters are almost always the very poor people. They need to be pulled out of disaster zones before calamity strikes. It is this measure that is lacking most of the time. Everyone knows what needs to be done to prevent disaster. But it never gets done, unfortunately.
Japan Today
03-06-2025
- Climate
- Japan Today
Nigeria flooding death toll jumps past 200
By Nicholas ROLL Flash flooding in north-central Nigeria last week killed more than 200 people, the Niger state humanitarian commissioner said Tuesday, while hundreds more remain missing and are feared dead. The town of Mokwa was hit with the worst flash flood in living memory Thursday from overnight rains, with more than 250 homes destroyed and swathes of the town wiped out in a single morning. The announcement comes after several days of the official toll standing at around 150, even as residents were sometimes missing more than a dozen members in a single family. "We have more than 200... corpses," Ahmad Suleiman told Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television, adding: "Nobody can tell you the number of casualties in Niger state right now because up till now, we are still looking for some corpses. "We're still looking for more," he added. But, he said, "sincerely speaking, we cannot ascertain." Given the number of people still missing nearly a week later, the toll from a single morning of flooding in Mokwa could be worse than all of 2024 combined, which saw 321 deaths from flooding across the country. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday that the death toll was 159. Climate change has made weather swings in Nigeria more extreme, but residents in Mokwa said human factors were also at play. Water had been building up for days behind an abandoned railway track that runs along the edge of the town, residents told AFP. It would usually pass through a couple of culverts in the mounds and run into a narrow channel. But debris had blocked the culverts, forcing water to build up behind the clay walls that eventually gave way. Floods in Nigeria are often exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. Federal water management minister Joseph Utsev said that the flooding was "caused by heavy rainfall due to extreme weather conditions occasioned by climate change", though he also cautioned against "unregulated structures" and called on local governments to maintain their drainage channels. Volunteers and disaster response teams have recovered bodies nearly 10 kilometers away after they were swept into the Niger River. Days before the disaster struck Mokwa, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. When AFP reporters visited the town earlier this week, a powerful stench filled the air, which residents said came from decaying corpses trapped under the rubble. The government said it has delivered aid, but locals have criticized what they say is a lackluster response, with multiple families telling AFP they hadn't received anything. The National Emergency Management Agency issued another statement Tuesday saying it was "working tirelessly to provide immediate assistance to affected residents". © 2025 AFP
The Herald
02-06-2025
- Climate
- The Herald
Death toll in Nigeria floods rises to 151
Flooding in Nigeria's Niger state this week has killed 151 people and forced several thousand from their homes, an emergency official told Reuters on Saturday. Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, director of information at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, provided the new death toll, which was previously reported at 117 on Friday. He added that over 500 households had been impacted and more than 3,000 people displaced. The flooding incident in the central town of Mokwa in Niger state occurred on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning. Days later, rescuers were still picking through mud and debris in search of bodies.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Nigeria flash floods: Which is most affected area, what caused the deluge?
Flash floods triggered by heavy rains have devastated a central Nigerian state, killing at least 150 people and displacing thousands since Thursday, and rescue workers say the toll could rise. Search and rescue operations are ongoing as roads have been damaged and homes destroyed while bodies are believed to have been swept down the Niger River. Here is what to know about the floods and how prone Nigeria is to such events. Flash floods hit Mokwa, a market town located in Nigeria's north-central Niger State. It followed intense rainfall that began about 3am (02:00 GMT) on Thursday, according to the Nigerian Red Cross Society. Mokwa is a key meeting and transit point for traders from the south and food growers in the north. It is about 350km (217 miles) by road east of Nigeria's capital, Abuja. Mokwa has an estimated population of 400,000 while Niger is the country's fourth largest state by size, covering more area than Belgium or Switzerland. More than 150 people have been confirmed killed while rescue teams continue to recover bodies and search for missing people. The actual death toll is likely higher as many victims are believed to have been swept down the Niger River, Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris said, reporting from Mokwa. 'The usual thing is when an official tells you 151 are dead or missing, you are likely to multiply that by two, three or four,' he said. At least 3,018 people have been displaced, 265 houses destroyed and two bridges washed away in the floods, according to Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency. Of those injured, 121 were in hospital, and more than 100 people were missing, Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger State, told the AFP news agency on Saturday. 'We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out,' Adamu said. Farida Auwalu, the lone survivor from a family of 16, lost seven children in the deluge. The bodies of four of Farida's children have been found and buried. 'My hope is to see the remaining bodies and give them a decent burial and have closure,' she told Al Jazeera. Experts said the frequency and severity of floods in Nigeria have increased due to climate change, unregulated construction and poor drainage infrastructure. Mokwa residents also believe the flooding was caused by 'a bigger problem upstream, maybe a dam burst, but up to now, officials are not confirming that', Idris said. Niger State has three major dams – Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro – while a fourth is under construction. Despite flood risks being identified, there has been a lack of political will to implement the solutions for them, according to Ugonna Nkwunonwo, a flood risk analyst at the University of Nigeria. 'The amount of rain you expect in a year could probably come in one or two months, and people are not prepared for that kind of rainfall,' he told Al Jazeera. Many areas in the country lack proper drainage systems, and existing ones are often clogged with waste, causing water to accumulate on the streets during heavy rains. Additionally, rapid urban development without proper planning has led to the construction of buildings in flood-prone areas, reducing the land's natural ability to absorb water. Deforestation for agriculture and development further reduces the land's capacity to soak up rainfall, increasing the flow of water over the land. Local leaders and residents are calling for state and federal authorities to intervene with long-term support and infrastructure to rebuild their communities and protect them from flooding. 'Warnings have been put out by authorities for people exposed or communities living along river banks to move to higher ground, especially when the rains start to peak, but every year, we continue to see more and more lives and property damaged because of rainfall,' Idris services – including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, the Nigerian Red Cross and local volunteers – are engaged in search and rescue operations. President Bola Tinubu has also ordered an emergency response, including the provision of aid and temporary shelter. 'Search-and-rescue operations are ongoing, and all relevant federal agencies have been mobilised to support the state government's efforts,' Tinubu wrote in a social media post on Saturday. However, damaged roads and bridges have complicated rescue and recovery efforts. Some flood survivors are struggling to get basic aid. 'No one brought any money or food to help the victims. As you can see, many don't have a place to sleep,' Hassan Umar told Al Jazeera in Mokwa. A key bridge that connects the northern and southwestern parts of the country collapsed, leaving motorists stranded and disrupting movement of vehicles across the region. In September, severe flooding in the northwestern city of Maiduguri in Borno State submerged two-thirds of the city, killed at least 30 people and displaced nearly half a million. More than 200 inmates also escaped from a flood-damaged prison. The disaster was triggered by weeks of intense rainfall and the collapse of the Alau dam in northeastern Nigeria. Across the country in 2024, flooding killed more than 1,200 people and displaced 1.2 million in at least 31 of 36 states, according to NEMA. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger, from Wednesday to Friday. In the south, low-lying states like Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta in the Niger Delta region experience frequent flooding due to their coastal locations. In the north, Kogi, Benue and Borno states are also prone to floods because they are on major rivers. The country's rainy season typically begins in April to mid-May and lasts through October while August is the wettest month. Heavy rainfall during this period causes problems every year because it destroys infrastructure and is exacerbated by inadequate drainage. Although flooding is common during Nigeria's rainy season, now is not the peak of the rains, Idris said. 'In some states, the rains have only been there for a month, and yet we're seeing this.'
AsiaOne
01-06-2025
- Climate
- AsiaOne
Death toll in Nigeria floods rises to 151, World News
Flooding in Nigeria's Niger State this week has killed 151 people and forced several thousand from their homes, an emergency official told Reuters on Saturday (May 31). Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, director of information at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, provided the new death toll, which was previously reported at 117 on Friday. He added that over 500 households had been impacted and more than 3,000 people displaced. The flooding incident in the central town of Mokwa in Niger State occurred on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning. Days later, rescuers were still picking through mud and debris in search of bodies. Nigeria is prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April. In 2022, the country's worst wave of floods in more than a decade killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4 million and destroyed 440,000 hectares (1.09 million acres) of farmland. ALSO READ: Nearly 300 prisoners escape Nigerian prison after floods
