Zubaida Umar, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has said about nine local government areas of Bauchi State will witness high flood risk this year, advising State Government to take early mitigation action against the predicted 2024 flood disaster.
Zubaida Umar made the call at the sensitisation programme for the 2024 downscaling of flood early warning strategies for early actions in Bauchi.
She said “it is imperative to downscale and sensitize on the 2024 flood early warning strategies for effective early actions to save lives and livelihoods during the rainy season.”
Umar noted that Bauchi had in the past been severely impacted by flood during the rainy season as some local government areas of the State are still predicted to be affected by flooding.
“These LGAs which are under high and moderate flood risk areas include Toro, Itas Gadau, Bauchi , Jama’are,Shira ,Zaki Ganjuwa ,Warji and Katagum”, she said.
Zubaida Umar, who was represented by Garba Mohammed, Director Internal Audit of the Agency, said the Agency’s mandate includes coordinating emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response activities across Nigeria.
“The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had predicted flood high-risk areas in several states and local government areas (LGAs) from April to November.
“As you may be aware, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) have both released the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) respectively for 2024″, she said.
