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Free Malaysia Today
13-06-2025
- Climate
- Free Malaysia Today
Rescuers fan out after Nigeria flooding kills more than 150
More than 250 buildings were levelled and two bridges were swept away from Mokwa due to the flash floods. (EPA Images pic) ABUJA : Search teams fanned out several kilometres from the epicentre of deadly flash flooding in Nigeria on Saturday, the Red Cross said, as the death toll from heavy rains in the north-central market town of Mokwa topped 150. The sharp rise in the toll came as bodies were recovered nearly 10km away from the town, where more than 250 buildings were levelled and two bridges were swept away, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger state emergency management agency, told AFP. Husseini warned the toll could rise further, with bodies being swept down the powerful Niger River. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger state, told AFP that search teams were heading toward Jebba, on the opposite side of the waterway's swampy banks. Mokwa was hit by torrential rains on Wednesday night into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000, Husseini said. There were 121 injured in hospital, Adamu said, while more than 100 people were missing. Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country. Scientists have also warned that climate change is fuelling more extreme weather patterns. 'We can't give up' Roads were still inundated in Mokwa on Friday, an AFP journalist observed, with Husseini saying his team would need excavators to reach bodies feared buried under the rubble. Residents in the town, some 350km by road from the capital Abuja, were still searching for loved ones. In some cases, families were missing a dozen people. Adamu, the Red Cross chief, told AFP 'we can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out'. 'If there were some bodies that were carried away by the flooding, we'll find them in the farmland on the Jebba side.' According to a tally shared by Husseini, 151 people were killed, 3,018 were displaced, 265 houses were destroyed and two bridges were washed away in the busy, rural market town. Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters on Friday: 'We lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything.' Floods in Nigeria are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. 'This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear,' the national emergency management agency said in a statement. Complicating the search for missing persons was the presence of a large group of travellers staying overnight in a Mokwa mosque when the rains hit, Adamu said. The building collapsed and it was still unknown where the people had been travelling from. President Bola Tinubu said the disaster response was being aided by security forces. Warning sounded The Nigerian meteorological agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria's 36 states, making it one of the country's worst flood seasons in decades, according to NEMA. Describing how she escaped the raging waters, Sabuwar Bala, a 50-year-old yam vendor, told reporters: 'I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I'm wearing now. I couldn't even save my flip-flops.' 'I can't locate where my home stood because of the destruction,' she said.
Gulf Today
05-06-2025
- Climate
- Gulf Today
150 killed in Niger province due to torrential rain
Torrential rain in the northern Nigerian state of Niger killed 150 people, and left thousands homeless. It is not yet the height of the rainy season in Nigeria. People feel that the enormous flooding due to the rain must be due to a dam burst upstream. But the destruction has left the people wrecked, and the authorities scrambling to rescue people and provide for them. More people must have died even as bodies are swept away in the Niger River. Mokwa, with a population of 400,000, is the main town in the Niger state, the fourth largest in the country, and it serves as a transit point of commerce between the north and the south. Like many urban habitations in most developing countries, Mokwa is concrete jungle with an inadequate drainage system. And so are the other urban habitations in the province and in the country. The Nigerian Red Cross Society is engaged in rescue operations along with the provincial authorities. Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesperson for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said that at least 3,018 people have been displaced and 265 houses destroyed. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in the Niger state, said 121 injured people were in hospital and 100 were missing. Adamu said, 'We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out.' Farida Awalu, who lost seven of her children in the deluge from a family of 16, said, 'My hope is to see the remaining bodies and give them a decent burial and have closure.' Four of her children have been found and buried. Flood risk analyst Ugonna Nkwunonwo of the University of Nigeria says, 'The amount of rain you expect in a year could probably come in one or two months, and people are not prepared for that kind of rainfall.' Floods are the result of two things. One, excessive rainfall, and second lack of drainage systems in the urban centres along the course of the river. The tried-and-tested method is that of building dams. But it has been found that the dams are not much of help in the face of heavy rain because the rain can overrun the dams and unleash destruction along the way. It would require an alert system, and properly planned cities which can absorb the rain with the help of properly laid out drainage systems. But these are never in place because priorities of those in power are always dictated by the compulsions of power tussles. Wrong and short-term solutions are favoured, which cause more damage to the people and to the terrain. Many of the experts have now begun to blame all natural disasters on that ubiquitous cause, climate change. Climate change is a real problem and challenge and it needs to be tackled at many levels. But there are local vagaries of weather which mostly dictate things like rainfall, and it is necessary for the local governments to be able to deal with them. Precautionary measures are in the hands of the administration. With improved meteorological data, it is possible to predict rainfall, and even local storms. Local authorities say that they have warned people to shift to higher ground from the river bank, but the poor people cannot make the move as easily as an administrative order is issued. The emergency measures taken after a natural disaster strikes should be taken before the disaster happens. The people impacted by natural disasters are almost always the very poor people. They need to be pulled out of disaster zones before calamity strikes. It is this measure that is lacking most of the time. Everyone knows what needs to be done to prevent disaster. But it never gets done, unfortunately.
Malay Mail
02-06-2025
- Climate
- Malay Mail
Rescuers fan out as over 150 dead, thousands displaced after Nigeria flooding wrecks market town
ABUJA, June 2 — Search teams fanned out Saturday from the epicentre of deadly flash flooding in Nigeria, the Red Cross said, as the death toll from heavy rains in the north-central market town of Mokwa topped 150. The sharp rise in the toll came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres from the town, where more than 250 buildings were levelled and two bridges were swept away, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, told AFP. Husseini said the toll could rise further, with bodies being swept down the powerful Niger River. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger state, told AFP that search teams were heading toward Jebba, on the opposite side of the waterway's swampy banks. Mokwa was hit by torrential rains Wednesday night into Thursday, with the flooding displacing more than 3,000 people, Husseini said. There were 121 injured in hospital, Adamu said, and more than 100 people were missing. Nigeria's rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Heavy rains and poor infrastructure lead to flooding that wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country. Scientists have also warned that climate change is fuelling more extreme weather patterns. 'We can't give up' Roads were still inundated in Mokwa on Friday, an AFP journalist saw, with Husseini saying his team would need excavators to reach bodies feared buried under the rubble. Residents in the town, around 350 kilometres by road from the capital Abuja, were still searching for relatives. In some cases, families were missing a dozen people. 'We can't give up the search as long as there are families crying out,' said Adamu, the Red Cross chief. 'If there were some bodies that were carried away by the flooding, we'll find them in the farmland on the Jebba side.' According to a tally provided by Husseini, 151 people were killed, 3,018 were displaced, 265 houses were destroyed and two bridges were washed away in the busy market town. Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters Friday: 'We lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything.' Floods in Nigeria are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels. 'This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear,' the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said in a statement. Complicating the search for missing persons was the presence of a large group of travellers staying overnight in a Mokwa mosque when the rains hit, Adamu said. The building collapsed and it was still unknown where the people had been travelling from. President Bola Tinubu said the disaster response was being aided by security forces. Warning sounded The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria's 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday. In 2024, floods killed 321 people across 34 of Nigeria's 36 states, according to NEMA. Describing how she escaped the raging waters in Mokwa, Sabuwar Bala, a 50-year-old yam vendor, told reporters: 'I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I'm wearing now. I couldn't even save my flip-flops.' 'I can't locate where my home stood because of the destruction,' she said. — AFP
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Death toll reaches at least 200 in Nigerian town submerged in floods as rescue efforts halted
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 200 on Sunday, a local official said. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The deputy chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Musa Kimboku, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Sunday. He said rescue operations have been called off, as authorities no longer believe there are any survivors. To prevent the outbreak of disease, officials are currently exhuming bodies buried beneath the rubble, Kimboku added. On Saturday, the spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, said an additional 11 people were injured and more than 3,000 people were displaced. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden and intense 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. Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. In a statement on Friday night, President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences and said he had directed the activation of an emergency response to support victims and 'accelerate' recovery. Flooding is common during Nigeria's wet season. 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. But this flood has been particularly deadly in Mokwa, a farming region near the banks of the River Niger. Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa said the villagers are not used to such flooding. The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.
CTV News
01-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Death toll reaches at least 200 in Nigerian town submerged in floods as rescue efforts halted
A man searches the rubble in a flooded area after heavy rainfall in the market town of Mokwa, north-central Nigeria, Saturday May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Usman Salihu Mokwa) ABUJA, Nigeria — The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger rose to at least 200 on Sunday, a local official said. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The deputy chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Musa Kimboku, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Sunday. He said rescue operations have been called off, as authorities no longer believe there are any survivors. To prevent the outbreak of disease, officials are currently exhuming bodies buried beneath the rubble, Kimboku added. On Saturday, the spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, said an additional 11 people were injured and more than 3,000 people were displaced. At least 500 households across three communities were affected by the sudden and intense 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. Husseini added that two roads were washed away and two bridges collapsed. In a statement on Friday night, President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences and said he had directed the activation of an emergency response to support victims and 'accelerate' recovery. Flooding is common during Nigeria's wet season. 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. But this flood has been particularly deadly in Mokwa, a farming region near the banks of the River Niger. Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa said the villagers are not used to such flooding. The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue. Dyepkazah Shibayan and Taiwo Adebayo, The Associated Press
