The Federal Government has revealed that 321 deaths were recorded due to flooding in 2024. It also affected 1,373,699 people across 217 local government areas in 34 states.

Through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the government reported that 740,734 people were displaced. Plus, 2,854 individuals suffered injuries of varying degrees. Thousands of hectares of cultivated farmlands were either washed away or fully submerged by floodwaters.

NEMA Director General, Zubaida Umar, shared this information yesterday during a national workshop on disaster risk financing in Abuja.

?During the 2024 rainy season, the incident dashboard of the NEMA Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) indicated that 217 Local Government Areas in 34 State of Nigeria are affected by flood disaster,? she said.

?A total of 1,373,699 persons were affected by the floods while 740,734 are displaced in addition to 321 recorded mortalities,? she added.

?Furthermore, a record 2,854 persons suffered various degrees of injuries with thousands of hectares of cultivated farmlands either washed away or completely inundated by flood waters,? she continued.

She also noted that Nigeria faces growing challenges. ?In Nigeria, the situation has become more complex with the protracted insurgency, banditry and communal conflicts in some states of the federation,? Umar explained.

?This has made it imperative for NEMA to explore risk financing options that will guarantee early recovery and business continuity in the aftermath of socio-economic dislocations a result of disasters,? she said.

?It our firm belief that this paradigm shift has become more imperative in the face of dwindling resources for disaster recovery in addition to other equally important and yet competing demands on government,? she stated.

Umar reaffirmed NEMA?s commitment. ?To avail the insurance industry our damage and loss assessment reports including historic data on disaster losses across Nigeria to help drive this laudable risk transfer initiative,? she said. (Daily Sun)

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