The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA) has warned that flooding across several parts of the country could persist until September, with conditions expected to become more severe in August if urgent preventive measures are not taken.
The agency’s Director-General, Umar Mohammed, disclosed this in an interview with Sunday Vanguard through Emmanuel Tuna, Head of NiHSA’s Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Department.
According to Mohammed, the agency had predicted the current flooding months in advance and issued several early warnings to relevant authorities before the rainy season intensified.
“This is something we foresaw, we saw it coming,” he said.
“As we speak now, with the flooding happening, if nothing is done, this is just the start of the rainy season, sometime around July to September, and it could be worse than what is even happening right now. We’re expecting it to be worse around August and September, particularly August.”
The NiHSA boss also expressed concern over the impact of prolonged flooding on access to safe drinking water.
He revealed that the agency conducted baseline assessments of borehole water quality before the floods began and plans to carry out fresh tests after the flooding to determine the level of contamination.
“We were concerned about the drinking water because we expected the flood to last over a long period.
“We analysed the quality of the water before the flood and have our reports. Now that flooding is happening, we will conduct post-flood assessments to confirm what is polluting the water and identify the sources.”
Mohammed identified Lagos State as one of Nigeria’s most vulnerable flood zones because of its exposure to urban flooding, river flooding and coastal flooding.
He said blocked drainage systems, silted waterways, low-lying terrain and rising river levels have worsened the impact of recent heavy rainfall across the state.
He warned that flooding is expected to occur intermittently over the coming months before gradually subsiding.
“We are expecting this flood to be on and off from July to September. Around October, the rains should begin to recede. The only time we can be reasonably safe is possibly around November.”
Mohammed also accused some state governments of failing to act on NiHSA’s annual flood outlook and repeated warnings.
“We have a serious challenge with cooperation from states. Most times we get disregarded. Our warnings are not taken seriously.”
His warning comes days after heavy rainfall triggered widespread flooding across several parts of Nigeria, with Lagos among the hardest-hit states.
The floods submerged homes, roads and critical infrastructure, disrupted transportation, displaced residents and caused electricity outages in some communities after floodwaters affected a major transmission substation.
