YOU & YOUR ENVIRONMENT
GUEST
Ismail Lawanson
Executive Director
Lawanson Adeniran Foundation


Question
Is there any difference between flood and erosion?
Answer:
Flooding is an over flowing of water that submerges land that is usually dry while Soil erosion is the washing away of the topsoil by water, wind and ice .

Question
Information has it that Ekiti state is one of the states in Nigeria prone to flooding. Let us know the flood prone areas in Ekiti state?
Answer:
Ado most especially is prone to flooding, others include, Ita Eku, Ureje, Eminrin, Embassy Island and Ado-Ijan-Ikare road, Ikere- Ekiti etc.

Question
There may be heavy rainfalls any moment from now. What should we expect?
Answer:
The citizens and government of Ekiti state have put in efforts to keep the state clean through the waste management scheme and clean up of public places organised by private citizens and NGO’s. However, there is still much to be done. We should expect both the good and bad, We should expect areas to be water logged but if timely measures are taken we would have less flooded areas and damages.

Question
What are the possible ways residents in flood prone areas can control or prevent flooding?
Answer:

  1. To plan for floods, one needs to understand the type or types of flood as each of them is peculiar in terms of how it occurs, how it is forecast, the damage it causes, and type of protection needed.
  2. There should be construction of drainages, cleaning of drainages, for instance there are some teams who volunteer and clean up some environment in Ekiti without remuneration, an example is the team ‘Cleanup Ekiti’. If many persons volunteer in such project it would contribute a lot to the preservation of the environment.
  3. Climate change should be tackled
  4. There should be efforts made to achieve protection of wetlands and trees should be planted strategically
  5. Introduction of water storage areas

Question
Are there types of floods? What are their risk factors?
Answer:
Types of flood include;
1: River floods ( Fluvial floods): This occurs when the water level in a river or any water mass rises and over flows to the surrounding banks or lands. It could be as a result of excess rain fall or snow melt
2: Pluvial floods: This occurs when an extreme rainfall event creates a flood independent of an overflowing water body. There are two common types of pluvial flooding , surface water floods and flash floods

  1. Coastal flooding: This the inundation of land areas along the coast by seawater. Common causes of coastal flooding are intense windstorm events occurring at the same time as high tide (storm surge), and tsunamis.
    Risk factors
    Human factors increase flood risk. Activities like urbanisation, because towns and cities have more impermeable surfaces and deforestation because removing trees reduces the amount of water intercepted and increases run off.

Question
How efficient are the new concepts about flood prevention and management?
Answer:
There are some new concepts of flood prevention and management in advanced countries . one of them is the Risk conceptualization. It is analysed from two independent factors, one based on the socio-economic perception of risk and the other depending on the hydrologie and hydraulic knowledge of the hydrological regime.
The first factor is called vulnerability and represents the sensitivity of land use to the flood phenomenon. Consequently, it depends only on the type of land use and the social perception of risk. It can be different from one area to another, even for the same type of land use and can also evolve in time.
The second factor is called hazard and depends only on the flow regime of the river, independent of the land use of the flood plain. That is to say that the same flow will flood the same area with the same physical parameters, whatever the land use.
According to these two basic factors, a real flood risk level requires a certain level of hazard, and for the same location, a certain level of vulnerability. Often the main way to cope with flood risk is to study precisely the hydraulic constraints and to define structural works to mitigate it. Translating from previous concepts, that means we focus on the hazard factor, assuming an implicit vulnerability level. In Nigeria we are making a move towards controlling flood by afforestation. The new concept is effective, with collaborative effort from individuals and the government the performance and result level will be improved. Ekiti state Government has been trying their best to make the state Clean.

Question
Is there any relationship between climate change and flooding?
Answer
Climate change has contributed to a rise in extreme weather condition, rainfall is one of the areas affected. Extreme rainfall can lead to Flooding.
Question
What is the role of government in flood management and aversion?
Answer:

  1. Their role is to provide adequate amenities, build and repair drainage systems etc. Last year December Ekiti state budgeted N334m to dredge Waterways.
  2. The state Government is putting effort to make Ekiti free of Flood and guarantee the safety of people and property.
    Inemesit Umoh