ClimateNews
Urban and Flash floods affect communities in Maiduguri
Murtala Abdullahi Follow on Twitter August 5, 2020
Three days of torrential rainfall which started on from Sunday night to Tuesday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, Northeast Nigeria, resulted in flash and urban flooding in the city.
Blocked and insufficient drains increased the risk of flooding of roads and residential areas, HumAngle reports.
The seasonal Ngadda River which flows through the city into Lake Chad was filled and moving fast due to rapid surge in the water flow.
Muhammad Makintami, a sustainable development advocate in Maiduguri, told HumAgle that flood in the city affected communities, including Pompomari, Ngomari, Bulunkutu, Gwange, Dala, Tashan Bama and Shuwari.
Makintami attributed the situation to poor drainage and buildings on the river bank (flood plain), especially in Gwange area.
The Borno State Flood Control Committee on Tuesday visited some of the flooded communities.
The committee, chaired by the Commissioner for Environment, Buba Walama, was set up to provide short and permanent solutions to flooding in the state.
In July, Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency advised citizens and state governments to prepare for more flooding, especially in August and September.
"By our prediction, August and September are very critical for flooding in Nigeria," the agency said.
Floods in Maiduguri and other parts of Borno State increase stress on internally displaced persons in camps and present health risks (malaria and holera) for the populace.
Eve Sabbagh, the Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told HumAngle in July that humanitarian actors were scaling up efforts to mitigate flooding and disease outbreaks during the rainy season as there were increased risks of flooding and outbreak of diseases such as acute diarrhoea and cholera.
Murtala Abdullahi
Abdullahi Murtala is a researcher and reporter. His expertise is in conflict reporting, climate and environmental justice, and charting the security trends in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region. He founded the Goro Initiative and contributes to dialogues, publications and think-tanks that report on climate change and human security. He tweets via @murtalaibin
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