ABUJA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Floods caused by persistent rainfall have wreaked havoc in central Nigeria, killing at least 10 people so far, a local official said on Wednesday.
Confirming the figure to reporters, Ibrahim Inga, head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency in Nigeria's central region, said the deaths were recorded over the past two months.
The floods, as a result of a localized high-intensity rainfall accompanied by torrential winds since August, also triggered massive run-off activities in streams and rivers in the state, Inga said.
According to him, at least 2,714 houses were destroyed so far by the disaster. A total of 21, 223 people were affected by the flood which swept through 20 local government areas, with 123 communities submerged.
The floods also badly damaged roads, bridges, culverts and other buildings, the official said.
He said the excess waters had inundated several hectares of farmlands and displaced some dwellers in hinterland communities.
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, which is responsible for issuing flood alerts here, had since early August issued an alert over possible flooding due to the high intensity of rainfall across the country.
The hydrological body said the flooding incidents are due to high rainfall intensity of long duration, rainstorms, blockage of drainage systems and poor urban planning resulting from the erection of structures within the floodplains and waterways.
This year, Nigeria's 36 states and the federal capital territory, Abuja, would witness different levels of flooding, the hydrological body predicted. Enditem
