The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned that without adequate sensitisation and preparation Nigeria may witness another flood disaster this year.
At the 2014 Flood Prevention Mitigation and Preparedness Workshop in Minna on Wednesday, the Director NEMA Zonal Office, Slack Lugard, asked Nigerians to be proactive and pay attention to their immediate environment.
He also urged the media to partner the agency in educating the people on the causes and prevention of flood.
On April 11, NEMA asked residents living in flood prone areas and near river banks in some parts of Kaduna, Sokoto, Jigawa and other parts of the north west zone to vacate their residences in order to avoid being affected by this year’ flooding.
The order came two days after heavy rain caused the death of three people, including two children, in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
The rain started at about 11: pm local time on April 9 and lasted for about four hours.
The impact was only discovered in the morning when most of the streets around Offa Garage area were blocked with trees and about 25 vehicles which were parked within the garages and parking lots of their owners had been washed into the main roads, thereby causing several hours of gridlocks.
The flood also cut off a large chunk of soil from beneath the rail track of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, cutting through the road thereby making it impassable for the train.
A section of the rail track behind Kingdom Heritage Secondary School was also affected.
The agency’s warning is aimed at forestalling a recurrence of the 2012 flooding that left over 360 persons dead.
Over 2,100,000 people as of November 5 were displaced.
After the Meteorological Agency of Nigeria forecast showed that Nigeria would experience a short rainy season this year, the Supervising Minister of Aviation, Dr Samuel Ortom, said that the Federal Government would continue to put measures in place to avert a repeat of the 2012 flooding that affected many parts of the country.