The director-general of NIMET, Dr Anthony Anuforom, gave the warning in Abuja yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He said that windy weather was expected during the dry season, following more heavy rains likely to lead to more floods between September and October. He cautioned people not to stay under trees during the period.
Anuforom said: "We are transiting now from rainy to dry season; the kind of things we may experience are violent winds. Therefore, we advise people to avoid staying under trees. The reason why we alert people is for them to know ahead of time and take necessary precautions. We have no ability to protect against natural disasters but the ability to observe what the weather is and inform the people early. Part of the mandate of the Ministry of Aviation is safety and we as an agency under it have keyed into it."
He noted that forecasts by the agency, if strictly adhered to, could help save the situation, adding that any emergency situation could only surprise people unexpectedly if there were no early warnings. "If adequate disaster risk measures are taken, the number of deaths will decrease because people must have known what to expect," Anuforom said.
The NIMET chief said that the 2013 annual seasonal rainfall predictions bulletin on weather and climate would be released early to get people prepared and make use of it....
Houses submerged in Makurdi town Nigeria due to the flooding of Ladgo reservoir in Cameroon, shot by Achakpa, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
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