Latest news with #NigerStateEmergencyManagement
News24
4 days ago
- Climate
- News24
Nigeria flooding death toll jumps past 200
Flash floods in Mokwa, Nigeria, killed over 200 people, with many still missing. Locals blame blocked culverts and poor drainage for worsening the disaster. Residents say aid has been slow despite government promises. Flash flooding in north-central Nigeria last week killed more than 200 people, the Niger state humanitarian commissioner said on Tuesday, while hundreds more remain missing and are feared dead. The town of Mokwa was hit with the worst flash flood in living memory on Thursday from overnight rains, with more than 250 homes destroyed and swathes of the town wiped out in a single morning. The announcement comes after several days of the official toll standing at around 150, even as residents were sometimes missing more than a dozen members in a single family. 'We have more than 200... corpses,' Ahmad Suleiman told Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television, adding: 'Nobody can tell you the number of casualties in Niger state right now because up till now, we are still looking for some corpses.' 'We're still looking for more,' he added. But, he said, 'sincerely speaking, we cannot ascertain.' Given the number of people still missing nearly a week later, the toll from a single morning of flooding in Mokwa could be worse than all of 2024 combined, which saw 321 deaths from flooding across the country. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday that the death toll was 159. Climate change, human factors Climate change has made weather swings in Nigeria more extreme, but residents in Mokwa said human factors were also at play. Water had been building up for days behind an abandoned railway track that runs along the edge of the town, residents told AFP. It would usually pass through a couple of culverts in the mounds and run into a narrow channel. But debris had blocked the culverts, forcing water to build up behind the clay walls that eventually gave way. Floods in Nigeria are often exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. Federal water management minister Joseph Utsev said that the flooding was 'caused by heavy rainfall due to extreme weather conditions occasioned by climate change', though he also cautioned against 'unregulated structures' and called on local governments to maintain their drainage channels. Volunteers and disaster response teams have recovered bodies nearly 10 kilometres away after they were swept into the Niger River. Warnings issued Days before the disaster struck Mokwa, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. When AFP reporters visited the town earlier this week, a powerful stench filled the air, which residents said came from decaying corpses trapped under the rubble. The government said it has delivered aid, but locals have criticised what they say is a lacklustre response, with multiple families telling AFP they hadn't received anything. The National Emergency Management Agency issued another statement on Tuesday saying it was 'working tirelessly to provide immediate assistance to affected residents'.
ABC News
6 days ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Nigerian floods kill more than 150, as search for victims continues
The death toll from devastating flooding in Nigeria has risen to at least 151, the local emergency service says, amid efforts to find more victims. The sharp toll rise came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres from the north-central market town of Mokwa, located in the state of Niger, the epicentre of the flash flooding. Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said the toll could rise further, with bodies being swept down the Niger River. Mokwa was hit by torrential rains on Wednesday night into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000 people, Mr Husseini said. There were 121 injured in hospital, said Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger state, and more than 100 people were missing. The market town, located west of Abuja, is a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden flood that built rapidly in about five hours, leaving roofs barely visible and surviving residents waist-deep in water, trying to salvage what they could and rescue others. Mr Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season. Heavy rains and poor infrastructure lead to flooding that wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the West African country. Residents in the town are still searching for relatives, with some families missing a dozen people. "We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out," the Red Cross's Gideon Adamu said. "If there were some bodies that were carried away by the flooding, we'll find them in the farmland on the Jebba side." Mr Husseini said his team would need excavators to reach bodies feared buried under the rubble. President Bola Tinubu said he had activated an emergency response to support victims and "accelerate" recovery. "Relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay," the president said, promising "no Nigerian affected will be left behind or unheard of". In 2024, floods killed 321 people across 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, according to NEMA. ABC/wires
