Flood: NES Boss Debunks Claims Over 2013 Prediction

Contrary to opinion held
in most quarters that the much predicted flood of 2013 did not come, the National President of the Nigerian Environmental Society (NES), Dr. Olu Andah, has debunked such  claims.
The NES boss, who spoke with our correspondent in an exclusive  interview in his office, in Port Harcourt, recently, said it would not be very correct to say that the predicted flood did not come.
He said the meteorological agencies’ predictions looked comparative to what happened in 2012 and the people’s experiences even as he frowned on how the 2012 flood was managed.
According to him, there was no actual plans  put in place to relate  the past experiences in 2012 to that of 2013 in terms of post-flood management activities.
“That we did not have the magnitude of the 2012 flood in 2013 does not mean there was no flood
“We have  flood every year and for those of us in the Niger Delta and for those of us that live along the major  rivers and creeks, we  know there is flood every  year” he said.
He said there was the need for the various agencies from the national to local government levels to work in synergy with a view to proffering solutions to the management of emergencies as they arise.
“The states and even the local governments, the ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, how many of them have on ground the facilities or capacity to tell us the level of water in their area especially in the coastal zones across  their area of jurisdiction.
“How many of these states  and local government areas have water benchmark where they can safely say, yes 2010 this was the height  of water in our area and 2012;” he queried.
The NES boss said except such  measurements  were on ground we  could not scientifically compare the magnitude  of yearly flooding even as he said the truth remains that we do not have the plans on ground  to be able to  mitigate the effect of flooding.
We don’t have them so we  thank God that the 2013 flood was not as heavy as predicted.
“If it has happened, what plans did we put on ground to have checked  the impact,” he said.
Continuing, he said whether the magnitude of the flood of 2013 was low, it was still a wake up call for governments and other agencies to start putting in place measures that would acquaint the  rural people on how to get prepared in case of such occurrences.
For the people in the local areas, this is what NIMET should focus attention on.
“NIMET by that announcement is trying to say in directly that the manufacturing industries should have weather monitoring stations so that they will be able to act promptly in cases of emergencies” he said.

A broken pipe of an oil well located in Egbebiri Area of Biseni Community, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State discharging a mixture of crude and gas into the surrounding environment, yesterday. Photo: NAN