Combating the menace of flood disaster in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Flood, which is the surge of large volume of water beyond the open soil capacity to absorb, can be caused by heavy rainfall, hurricanes or lack of proper drainage system in affected areas. It is a recurring phenomenon that causes devastating impacts on human life, animals and infrastructures of the affected nation. How to mitigate the menace of floods in Nigeria will be the focus of this review.

Method/Result: The paper identified that floods have cause menace such as maiming and/or deaths of humans and livestock, homelessness, and destruction of infrastructures and of farm lands etc., to so many societies in Nigeria. Some of the pictures of past floods occurrence in Nigeria were shown to illustrate the impacts of the flood menaces. These menaces of flood disaster can be prevented with effective measures like planning and adoption of effective mitigation measures in flood prone areas. Such measure include relocating villages and the people leaving in floods prone areas to up land areas.

Conclusion: The author concluded that preventing flood is a necessary and urgent need in Nigeria, particularly in prone areas. Achieving this will go a long way in preserving human life, livestock and social infrastructures.

Key Words: Flood, Menace, Disaster, Nigeria.