Nigeria Floods Result in Over 30 Deaths and Affect 1 Million People
Severe Flooding in Nigeria’s Northeast: Tragic Losses and Widespread Displacement
At least 30 lives lost, with a staggering million affected, as severe flooding wreaked havoc in northeastern Nigeria, emergency services reported on Wednesday.
“We’ve counted 30 fatalities,” revealed National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Ezekiel Manzo to AFP, following a devastating overflow from a dam that submerged thousands of homes in Borno state’s capital city, Maiduguri.
“The situation in Maiduguri is downright alarming,” echoed Manzo’s NEMA colleague, Zubaida Umar.
“Around 40% of the city is underwater. Residents are being uprooted and dispersed everywhere,” Umar lamented.
“Our figures show 414,000 displaced individuals,” stated Umar, adding the possibility of the total number reaching one million as authorities brace for more casualties.
During the flood, Maiduguri’s main hospital also faced inundation. The U.N. refugee agency in Nigeria highlighted Tuesday that the event marked the city’s worst flooding in three decades.
NEMA reported that the abrupt rise in water levels, fueled by the rupture of the Alau dam on the Ngadda River’s weekend, impacted over 23,000 households and more than 150,000 people, situated 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Maiduguri.
An estimated one million individuals have felt the flood’s impact, declared a government official.
Babagana Zulum, Borno State’s governor, told journalists that a government-led preliminary assessment post-Tuesday’s deluge confirmed this severe plight, the city’s worst in thirty years.
“With one-third of the city submerged, over a million people are affected. It’s catastrophic,” Zulum expressed while distributing aid and provisions at a displacement camp.
He revealed that over 100,000 people have been displaced, with search and rescue missions continuing.
“We’re providing money and food to family heads as a provisional cushion,” Zulum mentioned, adding plans to form a health squad for emergency responses post-flood recession.
He attributed the crisis to a collapsed dam on the city’s fringes and water overflow from Niger and Cameroon, neighboring African nations.
In addition to human displacement, the floods also swept away zoo animals and caused extensive damage to residences, schools, hospitals, government offices, commercial hubs, and places of worship.
