Floods hit the entire nation at very bad and painful points last rainy season. It hardly spared any state, and the widespread effect was attributed to the neglect of the warnings of government agencies before the deluge came.

This year, the agencies have decided to raise the alarm louder because the floods of last year would be child’s play in comparison to what comes this year, as they have announced.

There is integrated effort to fight the destroyer this time with so many concerned agencies of government pulling efforts in Abuja and at other locations to raise better awareness against flooding this year.

The Nigerian Metrological Agency’s (NIMET) warning that state governments should relocate their citizens from flood plains before the year’s flood strikes has been a matter of serious concern.

Citizens who live in such areas and were victims last year don’t find it funny, listening to the warnings any more. At the same time, governments that shoulder the financial and material burden are also in panic.

Once beaten Last year, the alarm was sounded but the people took it lightly and paid dearly. That cost of last year and the losses have been a lesson to all this time not to toy with NIMET’s warning.

To make sure it doesn’t get so bad this year, the FG has set up a committee, headed by the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, to find a way of circumventing the effect of what is becoming an annual ugly event.

Last year’s flood affected 24 states while the hardest hit were the coastal states and some Northern states. Some of the state governments are already taking steps to ensure that this year’s impending doom does not catch them napping. For instance, Delta State has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to conduct vulnerability studies called Territorial Approach to Climate Change (TACC).

“From TACC studies, we will develop an Integrated Territorial Climate Plan (ITCP) a bottom up mitigation and adaptation strategy that, when fully implemented, will cushion the pain on our people as they adapt to the new reality and with which we can leverage fund to build extensive climate resilient projects,” the governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, said recently.

Global warming catches us He said the devastating experience of the flooding of last year had brought dramatically the dangerous effect of global warming to the door steps of the state.

“From what we went through, ignorance is no longer an excuse and inaction on the part of government and the society amounts to conspiracy against our collective survival. We can no longer afford to bury our heads in the sand,” he assured.

He called on all stakeholders to wake up and arrest the impending doom so that together, all individuals and group will improve their efforts of last year and mitigate the effect of this year’s disaster. On the part of the disaster agencies which include the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Red Cross, Fire Brigade, Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), etc, a number of workshops and seminars are being held to find a solution to the disaster.

Collective fight
One of such workshops held in Abuja where stakeholders resolved that NEMA and State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) should mobilize relevant agencies and organizations such as the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Federal/State Ministry of Information to create awareness on the SRP for 2013, targeting vulnerable communities using the entire media.

That Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMoWR) is to facilitate construction of structures like buffer dams, dykes, levees, barriers and flood diversion channels to prevent flooding. That the Federal Ministry of Water Resources is to prioritize the dredging of the Niger and Benue Rivers to reduce silting and increase river retaining capacity.

There is also going to be strict enforcement of environmental laws, land use planning, development control and building codes That states and local governments would ensure effective municipal waste management, while River Basin Development Authorities are to ensure effective drainage basin management.

Applying technology
NEMA said the Geographic Information System (GIS) is to liaise with technology- based organisations like NASRDA, OSGOF to ensure proper deployment and utilisation of appropriate technologies in Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR).

NEMA in collaboration with stakeholders is set to review the National Contingency Plan (NCP) while response strategies should be developed and used by NEMA, SEMAs, LEMCs and the humanitarian community to ensure adequate preparedness and response.

In addition, NEMA would work with other organs to develop comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework to facilitate proper monitoring, transparency and accountability in disaster response.

Last year’s bad outing Beyond these measures, there are misgivings, concerning the use of the flood disaster money released by President Goodluck Jonathan in the wake of the devastation last year. The National Assembly raised the initial alarm on misappropriation of the fund by the state governments.

Because of this, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Senator Clever Ikisikpo, said the money released to prevent and mitigate the effect of the disaster was not put into good use in spite of the warning by NIMET that the 2013 flood would be more devastating than that of last year. He regretted that apart from using the money to rehabilitate the affected persons, the money was diverted to certain areas.

Victims
However, recent findings by Abuja Metro indicates that six months after the great flood, normal life is yet to return to places like the Ume community in Isoko South Local Government Area and Koloware Community in Patani LGAs of Delta State.

Worst hit by the disaster were rural dwellers, most of whom earn a living through petty economic means. Mrs. Rebecca Uveruveh, an old widow lost her house to the flood and now resides in the Ume market square, Isoko. Hers is a tale of woes and neglect.

“Nobody helped those of us that were in the village during the flood, and we haven’t been helped even after the incident. We only survived through the grace of the Almighty God. I really passed through hell during the flood. We fed on some of the already rotten food stuff apart from the help of kind people.”

While admitting that there was talk of women being sexually harassed in camps where they were housed after the flood, Uveruveh who was lucky not to have been a victim lamented that the flood destroyed a well, the only source of water for the community. Now, the people in her community resort to sachet water (pure water) and run-off water that collect in pits they treat with alum to make it fit for use.

“Government at first promised to help us when the flood recedes but as I speak with you the only thing I have enjoyed from the government since I returned was just the fumigation of my compound. As a widow I managed to replace part of my house with mud and have been living on the petty provisions of about N6,000 with my three daughters.

All the promises of supporting us after the flood by the government have not been fulfilled. My cassava and yam farms, worth several thousands of naira were destroyed. Right now, my fate and that of my family hang in the balance because help is no longer coming from anywhere,” she said.   Bitter tales The story was the same when Abuja Metro visited Koloware village, Patani, Delta State.

Despondency was palpable. Blessing Preye, a mother of four, said as a result of the flood, her family relocated to Ogbe-Ijaw camp in Warri South West. During their stay at the camp, they had two meals per day and thereafter some of them were given N4,000 each by some Delta State government officials.

She lamented that government did not fumigate her house and surroundings. Today the major problem she encounters is feeding her daughters since all her cassava and yam farms have all been destroyed. Joining in the lamentation, Glory Palmer, a farmer, said the indigenes of the community need help urgently.

Next door to famine
“Due to the mass destruction of their farmland by the ravaging flood, a measure of garri just enough for a meal for a family of four now sells at between N800 and N1,000 for white and yellow recipes respectively.

There were serious cases of assault on women but not to men. Because of the flood, garri is now like gold to us, even to get a bunch of cassava stem is problem; bunches of cassava stems before the flood were usually given to us free by colleagues but now a bunch is sold for N2,000. I want to appeal to the state government to fulfill their promises of helping us after the flood.”

Because the victims lost even farmlands with crops, not only do they not have food to eat, they also don’t have enough land for this season’s farming. Pa Albert Ogbu, a security guard at Opukabo Primary School, Patani, lamented that the major problem he encountered was his mud house that was destroyed by the flood.

He said all he needs from the government is financial aid to help build a new home.   231 communities In Delta State, a Technical Committee on Flood Impact Assessment said that about N10 billion is required for the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed by flood and the resettlement of those affected by the disaster.

At the presentation of its report, Prof. Chris Orubu who presented the report on behalf of the committee disclosed that 231 communities in 12 local government areas of the state were adversely affected.

He also revealed that 220 primary schools and 84 secondary schools were damaged; 357 fish farms were destroyed, while 753 market stores were affected. Orubu who described the flood as the worst in the last 50 years called for the rehabilitation of failed portions of roads in the rural areas, just as he recommended the supply of farm implements and machines to farmers.

The report of the committee came at the same period the Delta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, signed into law a Bill establishing the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).