Blog 9 Floods in Nigeria

There were fierce floods, which had killed dozens in Nigeria and had left tens of thousands of local residents as well as crocodiles, hippos and other water animals washed into peoples homes.  Due to the floods, they have left 148 people dead and have also affected 21 of the 36 states in Nigeria, according to the Red Cross.   These torrential downpours have caused tremendous wrecks in the villages and the projects over the past few weeks.  About 134,000 people have currently been affected by the weather in Nigeria and the concern is still growing about the spread and risks of waterborne diseases affecting the people.  These floods have caused a wreck in a series of states, which include Bayelsa and Benue.  A lot of people have been taken out of their homes; they have been displaced.  Snakes, crocodiles and hippos have even been displaced as well as the people and are now ending up in people's homes due to the floods.  The bad part is now that nothing has been fixed about this situation yet; people are still suffering.  State officials are still working to create drainage throughout the rivers.  The officials main goals are being able to help calm down the people who have been displaced and to also improve on the drainage.  Their hope is that when the drainage is fully equipped, and the flooding has calmed down to send out more resources to help the people who are suffering. This flood took all the people by surprise, they will need help from agencies that are out there that usually help out in disasters such as this one.  This will be a tough challenge for the people to make sure that everyone is well.  In the state of Benue though, over 25, 000 people have been displaced after one of their local rivers overflowed.  Nigeria has an incredibly rainy season, which tends to occur between May and October.  These heavy rains are especially hard on the small communities in rural areas, where drainage is limited or inconsistent.  Within the last month people of Nigeria were urged to move to higher grounds due to the flooding of their river. The evacuation mostly affected the states of Niger, Kogi, Kwara, Kebbi, Anambra as well as Delta.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/05/world/africa/nigeria-floods/index.html