At least six people have died, and over 10,000 have been left homeless due to flooding in northern Nigeria on Monday. The floods have affected 11 communities in Adamawa State, which is prone to such disasters.
Officials in Adamawa State are particularly concerned because the current downpours causing this flooding have arrived earlier than expected, before the peak of the rainy season. The heavy rains have caused rivers like the Benue to overflow, leading to widespread flooding of communities, farmlands, and infrastructure.
At Least 6 Killed, 10,000 Displaced In Nigeria Following Heavy Rainfall
“Due to climate change and a lot of other factors, the floods have come earlier than we expected and it caught a lot of our people unawares,” said Adamawa State Deputy Governor Kaletapwa Farauta. “Even if we are expecting floods, it is not in August, usually we always put our minds to September,” she added.
Although the state government noted that this year’s flooding might not be worse than in previous years, they have urged residents in low-lying areas along the Benue River to move to one of the eight internal displacement camps set up in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency.
In 2022, Nigeria faced its worst flooding in over a decade, resulting in more than 600 deaths, displacing approximately 1.4 million people, and destroying over 400,000 hectares of farmland.
