We Averted Flood Disaster in Abuja, Saved 270 Lives -FEMA

By: Wisdom Acka

Despite the heavy rains and the volume of water that flooded States across the country , the FCT did not witnessed any devastating impact in its communities as a result the proactive measures adopted by the FCT Administration.

The government said it successfully managed the situation, making the Territory a model in flood control in Nigeria, which
FCT Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, attributed to early warnings and massive sensitization, that has helped to mitigate the impact of flooding in the FCT.

Director-General, (DG) FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, who disclosed this while giving a scorecard on the agency’s activities last year, noted that the 2022 floods were the worst experienced by Nigeria in decades as it created  humanitarian crises in many parts of the country.

The DG, while making reference to federal government data, stated: “The floods affected 34 States in the country, displacing 1.4 million people, killed 603 people and injured 2,400 persons.”

“The FCT was not spared by the heavy rains according to the 2022 seasonal climate prediction by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, NiMet, rainfall in the FCT fell within the range of 1190 mm and 1590 mm slightly higher than 2021, but in spite of these heavy rains, no lives were lost to flooding in the FCT,” he added.

His words: “Today, the FCT has become a standard in flood control in the country. This is because of a drastic reduction in the impact of flooding in the FCT. We attribute this development to early warning and massive sensitization on what to do before the rains, during the rains and after the rains.”

“We have also issued early warning in line with the impact based seasonal climate prediction by NIMET, and the annual flood outlook issued by the Nigeria Hydrological Agency, NIHSA,” he emphasized.

Idriss also disclosed that in 2022, FEMA responded to 42 distress calls on the 112 emergency toll free numbers, indicating a reduction from the 173 distress calls it responded to in 2021.

Also, the DG attributed this reduction to the massive sensitization of residents, whom he commended for heeding to early warnings on possible flooding.

“Let me use this medium to commend FCT residents for their cooperation, particularly in heeding to our early warning,” he said.

“The floods this year ravaged three area councils viz: AMAC, Bwari and Abaji. Thankfully, no lives were lost to flooding this year in the FCT,” the DG noted.