Impacts of Flood in Manta and Galadima Kogo Communities, Shiroro Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

Flooding is a catastrophic hydro-climatological disaster causing destruction to thousands vulnerable communities worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the causes of flood in Manta and Galadima Kogo communities, Shiroro Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria. The study adopted purposive sampling techniques in which two communities (Manta and Galadima Kogo) located in the flood prone area were selected for investigation through the application of Taro Yamane formula with 0.05 degree of freedom. A total of 400 questionnaires were administered to the respondents, and 34 years rainfall data were generated from Era5website. The data were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 20.0 software. Results revealed that; an overflow from dam, heavy rainfall, human activities such as farming along the river banks and the flood plain scored 3.54, 3.27, and 3.12 respectively, and this contribute extremely to flooding in the study area, while inadequate vegetation cover and deforestation along the river banks had scored 2.51 and were regarded less serious contributing factors to flood occurrence in the study area. Destructions of crops and displacement of people were the major impacts of floods in the study area with Mean Score of 4.07 and 3.31 respectively. The study concludes that an overflow from dam, heavy rainfall and human activities such as farming along the river banks contribute extremely to flooding in the study area. The study therefore, recommends adoption of early warning system and flood forecasting for more effective mitigation strategies to flood disaster in the study area.