Overview
The 2012 rainy season in Nigeria has been worse than earlier years, and heavy rains at the end of August and the beginning of September led to serious floods in most parts of the country. The Nigerian authorities contained the initial excess run-off through contingency measures, but during the last week of September water reservoirs have overflown and authorities were obliged to open dams to relive pressure in both Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon and Niger, leading to destroyed river banks and infrastructure, loss of property and livestock and flash floods in many areas. By 29 Sep, the floods had affected 134,371 people, displaced 64,473, injured 202 and killed 148. (IFRC, 29 Sep 2012)
By the end of October, more than 7.7 million people had been affected by the floods, and more than 2.1 had registered as IDPs. 363 people were reported dead, almost 600,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed. Out of Nigeria's 36 states, 32 have been affected by the floods. (OCHA, 15 Nov 2012)
By January 2013, the rivers were back at their usual water levels and further flooding was not expected in the short term (IFRC, 29 Jan 2013).
