Twelve week rains that can submerge properties and cars are coming, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NiHSA has warned.
The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Umar Mohammed, who gave this indication, adds that the rains are expected to be worse around August
“As we speak now, with the flooding happening, if nothing is done, this is just the start of the rainy season, sometime around July-September (12 weeks), and it could be worse than what is even happening right now.
“And we’re expecting it to be worse around August-September, particularly August-September”, he added.
According to him, last week’s devastating floods in Lagos State and some other states across the country did not come as a surprise.
Muhammad also raised fears about how the flooding could affect drinking water in affected states as it could be polluted.
Zeroing in on Lagos, he told Vangurd through the Head, Geographic Information System, GIS, and Remote Sensing, Emmanuel David Tuna:
“Lagos is a very large urban city, and then it also has a very large river that cuts through the city, and then it is just by the ocean. So, with this, all the three major forms of flooding, particularly in Nigeria, can happen in Lagos. Nigerianpolitical analysis
“Urban flooding can happen in Lagos, riverine flooding can happen in Lagos, and even coastal or tidal flooding can happen in Lagos.
“So, imagine situations where there is urban flooding, and then the river rises. “There is going to be a collision of types of flooding that can even be more devastating.
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“And with the nature and terrain of Lagos, I wouldn’t want to say flat, Lagos is at some point below sea level.
“When I say below sea level, there is a sea level, and usually ground is supposed to be above the sea, and that is why the ground is not submerged underwater”.
“From the point of the bank or the beach area, it is above sea level. Now, some sections, particularly in Ikoyi, that I have been to, where we use some of our devices and our GPS to check the altitude of the ground, we got to see that some areas in Lagos are point zero, meaning equal level with the sea”.
