Flood Vulnerability Assessment of Niger Delta States Relative to 2012 Flood Disaster in Nigeria

AMANGABARA Gordon Tami^1, and OBENADE Moses^{2, 3}

¹Department of Environmental Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

²National Centre for Technology Management (Federal Ministry of Science & Technology), South-South Office, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

³Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Calabar, Nigeria

Cite this paper:
AMANGABARA Gordon Tami and OBENADE Moses. Flood Vulnerability Assessment of Niger Delta States Relative to 2012 Flood Disaster in Nigeria. American Journal of Environmental Protection. 2015; 3(3):76-83. doi: 10.12691/env-3-3-3

Abstract

Flooding is recorded every year in all the states along the River Niger and its tributaries, frequently causing disasters but the magnitude of 2012 flood caught the country napping. Moreover, two thirds of Bayelsa State and Delta State are inundated by devastating floods for at least a quarter of each year. Communities along the River Niger-Benue system are also under threat of constant flooding. Vulnerability assessment which many regions of the world have commenced becomes the way forward. This paper investigates the vulnerability of communities in three of the Niger Delta States and found out that a total of 1,110 towns are at risk of being inundated and about 7,120,028 people risk displacement. The paper evolves a well thought-out mitigation and adaptation measures which can be adopted by all stake holders including Governments at all tiers, community leaders and the vulnerable population.

Keywords:
vulnerability flooding population displacement Niger Delta sea level rise Risk environment

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