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Int'l Journal of Advances in Agricultural & Environmental Engg. (IJAAEE) Vol. 4, Issue 1 (2017) ISSN 2349-1523 EISSN 2349-1531 Disaster Vulnerability, Severity of Flood Losses and Information Dissemination In Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria Dr. Augustina U. Okonkwo, and Rita U. Onyeizugbe. Flooding is a situation that results when land that is usually Abstract—Ecological problem of coastal flooding is one of the dry is covered with water. It may be as a result of river many challenges of riverine areas of Eastern Nigeria. The 2012 overflowing its banks due to heavy/ prolonged rainfall. It can incident of river overflow was rather alarming. Part of the problem is occur due to collapse of a dam or when it is overfilled. with means of creating awareness and information about impending Flooding occurs naturally on flood plains and endangers flood forecasts as well as convincing people who are attached to the whosever refuses to prepare for its occurrence. Flood events environment to relocate to dry areas. This paper, therefore, examined may be predicted but at times it happens without warning. the environmental effects of 2012 flooding in Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State, investigating the role of information dissemination in Flooding can be extreme weather event naturally caused by the severity of flood losses. It also considered flood disaster rising global temperature which results in heavy down pour, vulnerability in the study area. Field survey and questionnaire thermal expansion of the ocean and glacier melt, which in turn administration were used for data collection in this study. Stratified result in rise in sea level, thereby causing salt water to inundate sampling method was used for questionnaire administration. Z-test coastal land. Described by [2], as the most common of all was adopted in testing the hypothesis that information dissemination environmental hazards, flood regularly claims over 20,000 is not contributory to severity of flood losses during 2012 flooding in lives per year and adversely affects around 75 million people Ogbaru LGA. The study revealed that warnings and information worldwide. According to [3], flood causes one third of all dissemination concerning the impending 2012 flooding were not properly done and media used for such warning were not available to deaths, one third of all injuries and one third of all damages the local populace. It was also discovered that the poor and ethnically from natural disasters. Among the records of global flood attached individuals are more vulnerable to flood disaster in the area. incidents are Pittsburgh,1936; Manitoba, 1997; Bangladesh, The paper recommended among other things that information / 2009; Red river in Winnipeg, 2009; Snoqualmie,2009 etc [4]. awareness about future flooding should be brought to the people In Nigeria and other African countries the pattern is similar using means and media available to the local populace. Serious with the rest of the world. Memorably is the popular Ogunpa education and awareness campaign should be undertaken to convince the ethnically attached in the community to relocate to other places to flooding of 1980, the yearly flooding of many parts of Lagos avoid becoming victims. The government should concentrate more on State, 2010 flooding of Kengana in Sokoto State, 1999 and these measures that would prevent losses than on relief distribution 2001 of Yenogoa in Bayelsa State, 1988 and 2001 of Kano after the losses. State and 2012 flooding of so many communities in the coastal states of Nigeria. Flood incidents in Nigeria forced millions of Keywords: Disaster, Flood losses, Information, Severity, Vulnerability. people to flee their homes, destroyed businesses, polluted water sources and increased risk of diseases [5]; [6]; [7]; [8]; I. INTRODUCTION [9]. The flooding of 2012 has devastating effect on many Riverine communities in various States of Nigeria and Ogbaru VARIOUS forms environmental problems among which Local Government Area happens to be one of them. The are flooding, soil erosion, drought and desertification, catastrophe of 2012 was attributed to excessive and prolonged pollution, ozone depletion, waste management etc, abound all rainfall of that year which resulted in the failure of dams, over the world. Floods are among the most devastating natural particularly, Lagdo dam in Cameroun. The overfilled dam disasters in the world claiming more lives and causing more released excess water to River Niger and River Benue in property damage than any other natural phenomena [1]. Nigeria resulting in these Rivers overflowing their Banks. This Augustina U. Okonkwo (Ph.D) 1, Department of Environmental resulted also in flooding of communities along or close to these Management, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli-Campus. Rivers. However, the 2012 flood was predicted and warnings Anambra State, Nigeria. e-mail: [email protected] issued for communities in the flood prone areas to relocate to Rita U. Onyeizugbe2 is with the Physical Planning Unit, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria dry areas yet the severity of losses recorded were rather https://doi.org/10.15242/IJAAEE.C0417030 102 Int'l Journal of Advances in Agricultural & Environmental Engg. (IJAAEE) Vol. 4, Issue 1 (2017) ISSN 2349-1523 EISSN 2349-1531 alarming and devastating. This study is undertaken, therefore ponds all over its landscape. The water table of the aquifer is to find out how far the warnings were related to the concerned quite shallow with average elevation of 25m above sea level. people and to determine those who are most vulnerable to The vegetation is a mixture of fringing forests along the banks flood incidents in the study area. The rest of the paper is of the River Niger and Guinea Savannah in the hinterland. organized as follows; study area, theoretical and conceptual According to the 2006 National census, the LGA has a population of 221,879. The towns that make up the local framework, methodology, findings, government include: Atani (the head quarter), Akili-Ogidi, implications\recommendations and conclusions. Akili Ozozor, Amiyi, Mputu, Obaogwe-ohita, Odekpe, Ogbakuba, Ochuche, Umuzu, Okpoko and Ogwuikpele (Fig II. STUDY AREA 2). Ogbaru Local Government is one of the 21 Local Government Areas that make up Anambra State in Nigeria. It is located between latitudes 5°42ˈN and 6° 08ˈN and Longitudes 6° 42ˈE and 6° 50ˈE. The study area is bounded to the North by Onitsha and Idemili Local Government areas, to the South Imo, and Rivers States; to the East by Ekwusigo and Ihala Local Government Areas and to the West by the River Niger and Delta State (Fig 1 Fig. 2: Map of Ogbaru L.G.A. Showing Towns and Building Locations. Fig. 1: Anambra State Showing Ogbaru Local Government Area. III. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL The average climatic conditions are wet season from March to FRAMEWORKS. October and dry season from November to February. The In this study two frameworks; theoretical and conceptual highest recorded rainfall is from June to September. The were employed. For the theoretical framework systems theory average annual rainfall ranges from 2000mm to 3000mm. It was adopted. It is termed ‘’ Over Flow System in Ogbaru’’. has a mean daily annual temperature of 30°C and 27°C [11], defined a system as the entity composed of a number of respectively. The average relative humidity ranges between parts, the relationship between these parts and the attributes of 60% -70% in January and 80% -90% in July [10]. both the parts are the relationship. The systems theory has the Ogbaru floods during the rainy season and dries up during the advantage of considering the performance of a phenomenon. dry season, though the flood lasts for a long time before The subsystems are conceptualized as physical and human receding. The flooding is as a result of the low and flat subsystems. The physical subsystem consists of water resource, topography with slope angles of 1°-3°. Thus, some of the lithology and climate. While the human subsystem consists of communities are flooded for over 8 months in a year. land use, population and public awareness. The physical The relief is a plain land of heights ranging between 0-1m and subsystem is resolved into climate, that is the length and characterized by swampy conditions due to its alluvial mud intensity of the rainy season; water resource referring to the content. It has two major Rivers; River Niger and Ulasi River presence of water bodies and water content of the soil; and which is the major tributary, though there are local creeks and lithology implying the low lying land (flat terrain) coastal area. https://doi.org/10.15242/IJAAEE.C0417030 103 Int'l Journal of Advances in Agricultural & Environmental Engg. (IJAAEE) Vol. 4, Issue 1 (2017) ISSN 2349-1523 EISSN 2349-1531 The human subsystem includes the degree of human This was to evaluate the hypothesis that information is not interference involving such activities like agricultural contributory to the severity of losses during 2012 flooding in practices, industrial activities, residential settlement and Ogbaru. population factors. Also under human subsystem is the issue of public awareness which includes the fact of impending V. FINDINGS flooding. The Conceptual Framework, on the other hand, is concerned A. Flood Loses with human adjustment and avoidance. This was based on a The most devastating effects of 2012 flooding in Ogbaru dissertation by Gilbert White in 1942 which was published as a Local Government are the damage to infrastructure, crops and book in 1945 titled ‘’ Human Adjustment to Floods’’ [12]. The water quality. Roads and footpaths were submerged making work caused a shift in the paradigm of flood plain management movement impossible. Even 6 months after the floods receded, in the United States. He was of the opinion that the four basic debris and silt deposits were seen covering the roads.

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