IJEOMA EZASOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF THE 2012 FLOOD DISASTER ON INDUSTRIES LOCATED IN ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF THE 2012 FLOOD DISASTER ON INDUSTRIES LOCATED IN ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

Overview In 2012, various states in Nigeria

experienced massive incidents of flooding. Anambra state located in South East Nigeria

was designated a Category A disaster area because very significant damages occurred at both the commercial and industrial nerve centres of the state- Onitsha, Ogbaru and Anambra West Local Government Areas.

About 35 privately-owned manufacturing industries were submerged and damaged by flood.

A total of 5,000,000 naira was estimated as damages and losses was accrued by small, medium and large scale industries directly affected by the flood

Aftermath of the 2012 flood disaster

Inter-linkages and integrations as a result of the flood

Lessons learnt from the 2012 flood disaster The 2012 flood disaster serves as a

warning that even non-coastal or land locked states are not immune to flooding.

It illustrates the extremely high cost of disaster unpreparedness.

it exposes the vulnerability of rural/urban communities and key economic concerns located along the banks of Niger River

Lessons learnt:

Households should save part of their earnings to prepare for future disasters.

Households can share part of their risk by insuring their properties, farms and jobs

Enterprise should formalize their businesses to enable them get basic compensation from government

Enterprises should be more flexible in terms of labour , innovation and technology to enable them cope better after a disaster

Enterprises should insure their business for flood

Lessons learnt:

It serves as a wake up call for Nigeria and Anambra State in particular to that unanticipated disasters happen.

Contingency planning must be scaled up due to climate change.

A wakeup call for both Federal, State and Local Governments to invest in disaster reduction strategies to prevent future reoccurrences of disasters of such magnitude.

Current concerns

Future risks and uncertainty The likelihood of experiencing higher

flood risk and greater economic damage is certain as long as climatic conditions continue to vary or change rapidly.

Different levels of government are yet to issue mid/long term strategies that clarify the role of individual firms and various government ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) in mitigating future disaster occurrence.