Flood kills 372 Nigerians in eight months, 508,000 persons affected – NEMA DG says

… As agency launches specialised equipment for effective search and rescue operations

Director-General of, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed, Monday disclosed that flash floods has killed about 372 Nigerians in the last eight months.

Ahmed who disclosed this in Abuja while launching various sets of operational vehicles as well as specialised equipment for effective search and rescue operations during disasters added that the menace has affected a total of 508,000 persons, injured 277 persons, destroyed about 37,633 houses and loss of huge numbers of livestock.

According to the DG, flash floods, have inundated 33 out of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), maintaining that several farmlands has been submerged by the ugly development mostly in Adamawa, Jigawa, Taraba, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Anambra and Ebonyi states.

“These have been accompanied by other derivative disasters. The agency has begun to venture into realms of proactive and predictive disaster risk management in line with best practices,” he added.

Ahmed said that the new equipment would be deployed across the Zonal, Territorial and Operational offices of the agency.

He said that the equipment, would close existing gaps and meet the current challenges faced by actors responding to emergencies in the field.

The equipment include: Three Mobile Intensive Care Unit Ambulances, Three Incident Response Vehicle (IRVs), Two Motorised Boats, Two Inflatable Boats, Nine Flood Lights, 15 Probe Cameras and Three Life Locators.

Others are 15 Breaching Systems, Nine Chain Saws, Six Concrete Cutters, Nine Full Body Harness, Nine Hose Pump Units, Nine Hydraulic Cutter, Nine Hydraulic Hose, Nine Hydraulic Rescue Ram and Nine Hydraulic Spreader.

Among the equipment also include; Nine Manual Cutter/Spreaders, Three Concrete Cutting saws and Two additional water purifier trucks donated by the Government of Japan.

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