NEMA takes steps to avert flood disaster in Plateau communities

Tue, Jul 28, 2020
By publisher
2 MIN READ

Environment

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Tuesday held a sensitisation programme in Jos aimed at averting flood disaster in Plateau.

Mr. Eugene Nyelong, North Central Zonal Coordinator of NEMA said that the sensitisation was to prepare the people on the challenges of flooding that usually occur during the rainy season.

Nyelong said that there was also the need to develop capacity and build community resilience to help mitigate the challenges that have become recurrent decimal.

He said: “Earlier in the year, the Nigeria Metrological Services Agency and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency had in their seasonal rainfall prediction had reviled the areas that were prone to disaster.

“They projected that some local government areas in the country, and in our case, Barkin Lad is among the highly probable flood risk areas.

“Pankshin, Jos North, Jos South, Jos East, Kanke and Mangu are among the moderately probable flood risk local government areas.

“This timely and important information has helped us to design proactive programmes such as this and will be unfolding subsequently across the three states of Benue, Plateau, and Nassarawa.”

He said that even though flood was a universal hazard, what distinguished the badly affected from the completely unaffected was attitude.

According to him, sensitisation would go along way as part of efforts to mitigate flood disasters.

He said that stakeholders have the responsibility to ensure that knowledge, skills or information were adequately and promptly communicated to the intended audience.

“This has greatly informed our change in strategy as an agency from the usual high table meeting to a participatory, grassroots engagement with a view to changing the narrative.

“May I state in clear terms that global emergencies will continue to increase but our level of preparedness will help prevent avoidable deaths.

“It will also help avert the destruction of valuable properties hence the call to early warning for early response,” he said. (NAN)

– Jul. 28, 2020 @ 18:49 GMT |

Tags: