The Worst Flooding That Happened in Nigeria for Years

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Baneen Saedi, Fine Arts Scout

Massive rainfall in Nigeria and the release of excess water due to global warming and a dam in neighboring Cameroon overfilled, adding more water and causing the worst flooding they have experienced in over a decade. This impacted about 1.4 million who have nowhere else to go and remain stranded. The flood killed more than 500 people, injured about 1,546 people, flooded  70,566 hectares of farmland, and left 90,000 houses underwater. The flood hit 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states. In Anambra, 76 people drowned in a boat that capsized while people tried to escape high floodwaters and more than 600,00 people have been displaced by flooding. Knowing that the flood hit most of the farmland and flooded all the houses, the Nigerian people are running low on food and resources. The Nigerian government has begun distributing 12,000 metric tons of food and non-food items to states devastated by the flood.

In 2012 Nigeria had a very similar flood. It flooded 30 of the country’s 36 states. 421 people died because of the flood, and 1.3 million Nigerians were displaced. It submerged most of Delta and Bayelsa states in southwest Nigeria. It made 120,000 people homeless and affected 350 communities in Nigeria.

“Nigerian’s national policy document on climate change, published in 2020, states that floods have increased in recent years and that climate change is expected.” Scientists compare the 2022 flood to the 2012 flood and say there might be worse flooding that may happen in the future because of climate change increases.