The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has said that records from various floods that wrecked havoc in the country last year showed that a total of 363 lives were lost, 5,851 people were injured while millions were affected in one way or the other by the disaster in 2012.
Speaking at a workshop and on the theme ‘Strengthening Mechanism for Community Based Disaster, Early Warning System and 2013 Flood Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness’ in Ilorin on Tuesday, the NEMA zonal coordinator for Abuja FCT, Kwara, Kogi and Niger States, Mr Ishaya Chonoko, said awareness creation and sensitisation carried out at the beginning of 2012 helped to reduce the level of destruction and fatality.
He said, “There is need to take NIMET’s rainfall predictions very seriously and prepare adequately. In the end, the energy and resources that will be saved can be channelled into other productive areas of human endeavours.”
According to Chonoko, the awareness creation and sensitisation exercise was aimed at strengthening mechanisms for community based disaster response, early warning systems and identifying states’ contingency plans on the implications of 2013 NIMET rainfall predictions.
He also called on stakeholders in the zone to be realistic and responsive towards strengthening the existing synergy that is aimed at disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
Comments