LEKKI FLOODING
Flood is a natural hazard that makes no distinction in the status of any society in the world. Its occurrence in different parts of the world has shown that it is a global phenomenon that does not ostracize any community. However, many countries in the Sub Saharan Africa are yet to demonstrate full preparedness to deal with the problems, despite the increasing threat posed by the flood and possibilities of severe flooding in the future due to climatic and other environmental factors. One factor is a rise in mean sea levels, which will be around 50 centimeters by 2070 as warmer temperatures cause oceans to expand.
Lagos, the largest city in the region located in the coastal area, provides a pulsating platform to assess the governance structure on flood risk management.
CAUSES OF FLOODING IN LEKKI
A flood occurs when water overflows land that’s normally dry, and this can happen in a multitude of ways.
In the case of the recent rather unfortunate situation that occurred in Lekki, the following points can be seen as the main causes:
SHALLOW DRAINAGE SYSTEMS
The importance of a standard drainage system during road construction cannot be over-emphasized. There are a lot of bad, obstructed and shallow drainage systems within the Lekki axis and they all contribute greatly to the Lekki floooding.
WASTE DISPOSAL
The most unfortunate plight surrounding our drainage systems is blockage from indiscriminate dumping of solid waste. This can partly be blamed on the absence of proper waste collection system as well as our collective lack of good sanitary attitude.
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL
Rainfall is a natural occurrence that could contribute to an environmental disaster such as flooding especially in cases where it becomes excessive and severe. Excessive rainfall, of course, has reportedly been identified as one of the major causes of flooding all over the world. The Lekki axis experiences continuous rainfall for almost a week as a result; drainage channels as well as canals that were constructed to deal with the situation becomes filled up and are subsequently overwhelmed.
COVERED CANALS
Land that was initially used in constructing a canal was sold, and the canal was subsequently sand filled for building construction by a developer.
STEPS TO TAKE IN COMBATING FLOODS
- keeping streets and sidewalks always clean
- cleaning and unclogging manhole and storm drain
- keeping in the houses the channels and other channels of rainfall free of branches and leaves of trees to avoid clogging and, consequently, return of water
- putting garbage bags on the sidewalks only near the time the garbage collection truck will come, preventing them from being drawn into the manhole when it rains;
- having a drain pump on hand if flooding cannot be avoided
CONCLUSIONS
- There is need to exercise flood control with the adoption of structural and non-structural measures. The structural measures correspond to the engineering works that can be implemented aiming at the correction and/or prevention of problems arising from floods. Non-structural measures are those that seek to prevent or reduce the damage or consequences of floods, not by means of engineering works, but by the introduction of standards, regulations and programs that aim at, for example, disciplining land use and occupation, the implementation of warning systems and the awareness of the population
- In order to deal with flood risks, it is essential that prevention and precaution measures are adopted to avoid catastrophic events. Prevention and precaution are two aspects of prudence that are put in front of situations when there is the possibility of damage. These principles should guide any flood protection policy. The distinction between potential risk and proven risk underpins the parallel distinction between precaution and prevention. Precaution is about potential risks and prevention is about proven risks. The potential risk corresponds to a dangerous event that may or may not occur to which no probability can be attributed, while proven risks can be attributed to events with their probabilities of occurrence.