28th March, 2012
The Lagos State Government has alerted residents to brace up for 236 days persistent rainfall this year.
The government warned that the rains will come with rainstorms that can uproot trees, cables and house roofs.
Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, gave this alert while presenting the 2012 seasonal rainfall prediction and socio-economic implication at a news conferenece held at Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The commissioner disclosed that the rains would begin this month and end in November.
“It has also been predicted that the end of season for 2012 rainfall is 12 November, 2012, with a margin of error of two days, between 10 and 14 November as probable days. “A further explanation of this year’s rainfall prediction shows that in the 4th week of March, rain will commence in earnest and increase gradually till late July or early August.
“A break is expected in between, while the rains will start again in late August or early September before the rainy season finally ends in November 2012. The implication of all this is that Lagos State shall experience a rainy season of about 234-238 days, with intermittent stoppage between March and August before restarting and finally ending in November 2012,” said Bello.
Bello disclosed that the Lagos would experience heavy rainfall with serious intensity just like last year, adding that the state was expected to record 1,279mm with marginal error of 50mm.
The commissioner assured that government had put machinery in place to mitigate the impact of flood that might arise as a result of heavy downpour. The government, he said, had pre-rain, mid-rain and post-rain programmes to combat flood.
He emphasised that the government would not promise a Lagos free of flood, “what we can promise is to reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of flood in Lagos State. We in the Ministry of the Environment are ready as our drains have been cleared and cleaned.”
He appealed to Lagosians to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorised places; silted drains around homes; stop illegal erection of structures on drainage alignment, among others.
“The state government has taken measures to ensure that we are able to cope with the rains and we wish to allay fears of our people that our drains have all been cleaned in readiness for this year.
“It is paramount that the people of Lagos support our efforts by complementing the state government through regular cleaning of drains in their frontages to ensure free-flowing drains as well as desist from dumping refuse into canals,” he stated.
Bello advised Lagosians not to panic any time it rained as government had put machinery in place to check flood.
He appealed to people to stay at home during the rains if they do not have the dire need to be out.
“Each local government has its own drainage engineers and maintenance officers who will be available to attend to all cases of flooding and emergencies during the rainy season,” he said.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga