Nigeria’s flood death toll this year has risen to 603 as the local government rushes to evacuate thousands of people from their submerged homes.
More than 1. 3 million people have been displaced by the disaster, which has affected others in 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday.
At least 3,400 square miles (3,400 square miles) of land was flooded, raising fears of disruptions to food sources. The shock has already threatened production in Nigeria’s northwestern and central regions, which produce much of what the country eats.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered “all those involved to work to restore normality,” according to a statement issued by his office.
– Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) October 16, 2022
Nigeria reports annual flooding, especially in its coastal areas, but this year’s flooding is the worst in more than a decade. Authorities attribute the crisis to the release of excess water from the Lagdo dam in neighboring Cameroon and the rains.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Yenagoa, the capital of Nigeria’s southern Bayelsa state, said others were fleeing to the city in hopes of escaping authorities.
“The news is that it has been pouring rain for a few days and the rains are expected to continue to fall in the coming days,” Idris said.
“Water levels are reaching an alarming level,” he said. “The ferocity of the water has also intensified. Floodwaters upstream continue to pour in there.
The floods have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria, where violence in the troubled northern region has displaced more than 3 million people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitor.
Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister of humanitarian affairs, warned that five states remained threatened with flooding until the end of November.
“We call on the respective state governments, local government councils and communities to prepare for additional flooding by evacuating other people living in the floodplains to higher ground,” Farouq said.
Last week, Buhari assigned 12,000 grain metrics to flood victims, the humanitarian minister said.