The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA) has warned that flooding in parts of the country could continue until September, with the situation expected to worsen in the coming weeks if urgent preventive measures are not taken.
Gatekeepers News reports that Director-General of NiHSA, Umar Mohammed, said the agency had predicted the floods through its earlier forecasts and warned that the peak flooding period is expected between August and September.
Speaking through the agency’s Head of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing Department, Emmanuel Tuna, Mohammed said the current flooding aligns with NiHSA’s projections.
“This is something we foresaw, we saw it coming,” Mohammed said.
“As we speak now, with the flooding happening, if nothing is done, this is just the start of the rainy season, sometime around July-September (12 weeks), and it could be worse than what is even happening right now.
“And we’re expecting it to be worse around August-September, particularly August-September.”
The NiHSA boss said the agency is also concerned about the impact of flooding on public health, warning that floodwaters could contaminate drinking water sources and expose communities to waterborne diseases.
He urged relevant authorities and residents in flood-prone areas to heed early warning advisories and take proactive steps to reduce the impact of the anticipated flooding.
