The Director, Insti
tute of Geosciences and Flood Control, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) Port Harcourt, Professor Kingdom .S. Abam, has urged Nigerians to take early disaster warning signals seriously.
Speaking against the background of the forthcoming international conference On flood and erosion prevention, protection and mitigation in Port Harcourt, Professor Abam said that the level of damages caused by the 2012 flood disaster would have been avoided if Nigerians heeded early signals in respect of the flood.
The Don said the 2012 flood was predicted But the level of damages was not predicted and noted that the scale of damages caused by the flood should teach Nigerians lesson to take early warning signals seriously
Professor Abam also regretted that Nigeria lacks record in terms of flooding, stressing that the forth-coming conference would provide insight into record keeping as far as flood and other natural disasters are concerned.
He further said that an derail view during the 2012 flood disaster shows that Niger Delta has little land for human habitation stressing that this situation has put the region in precarious situation.
Also speaking, Dr Akuro T. Gobo called for the planting of trees in the region to prevent erosion.
Dr Gobo said that there is need for study on the kind of trees that drains water stressing that efforts were being made to bring the trees to the region for planning.
Erosion at Tasha 2, Gwagwa Karmo Road in Abuja, recently. Photo: NAN