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dam-l Nigerian Dam floods/LS
>From the BBC:
Tuesday, October 13, 1998 Published at 12:26 GMT 13:26 UK
World: Africa
No warning for Nigerian floods
At least 100,000 people are reported to have
fled their homes in the western Kwara
State of
Nigeria after a large dam's gates were opened
and resulting floods washed away up to 70
villages downstream.
BBC Lagos correspondent Hilary Andersson
said people had no idea the floods were
coming.
Managers at the the Kainji hydroelectric dam opened all
four of its
gates after heavy rains, but failed to inform villagers
100 km down the
Niger river who were caught up in the welter of water.
The main government-owned newspaper, The Daily Times, said
nearly 70 villages were swept away by the floods. However no
mention was made of any loss of life.
The villagers below the dam are mostly farmers, who, with
their lands
flooded, have also lost their means of earning a living.
Dire straits
Local government official Alhaji Yahaya Yusuf said the
authorities
had appealed for assistance from the federal government
and asked
churches and other agencies to send urgent relief materials.
Our correspondent said there are no indications that any
help has yet
arrived as the massive flooding seems to have attracted little
attention in Nigeria.
She said some people were now sleeping in trees and in
very dire
straits.
The flooding is the result of extremely heavy rainfall
which has
affected not just the Kainji area but the entire country.
The north of Nigeria has been particularly badly hit, with
several
towns experiencing serious flooding.
Infrastructure cannot cope
Cities in Nigeria are ill-equipped for heavy rains because
drainage
systems are often inadequate or clogged with rubbish.
In Nigeria's main commercial city, Lagos, it is not
unusual for water
on some streets to rise to the level of a car window
during the rainy
season.
The rural areas, including the area around Kainji, are
even more
vulnerable to floods because many of the roads have no
hard surface
and can be washed away while the people live in less solid
houses.
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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