In year 2010, an American Journalist who was part of the global audience
that listened to my presentation during one my summer courses at a conference in the United State of America in
2009 called me and asked if I could help him book an appointment with some experts who had
being working on coastal erosion in Lagos. To cut the story short, he came to
Lagos did his research and obtained information from public, private and
academic institutions. This is how
journalism is done, rather than downloading pictures that are not verified to Photoshop
and write stories that are misleading. One of the creed of Journalism is I believe "Clear
thinking, clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good
journalism." This is what I see lacking in some journalists who think winning
awards based on stories is the ultimate journalism.
This write
up is not aimed at justifying the event that happened last week. However, it is
aimed at helping people understand flooding in its simplest terms. By now most
people who are not myopic in their thinking would have seen that the flooding
incident of last weekend has nothing to do with neither planning or waste management
in Lagos. Flooding is a global phenomenal that can be triggered by natural
events. As at Monday, 10th July, 2017, report has shown that some
parts of the country are also affected by flooding. Also, countries such as
Japan, India and China to mention a few have
experienced torrential rainfall.
Like this year, torrential rainfall has continued to cause havoc
in different parts of the world in the last ten years. A unique study using over ten years of
information from different sources reveled that torrential rainfall in the
month of July is a common occurrence. In 2007, torrential rainfall caused havoc
in different parts of the world. Examples
include: 18 hours rainfall making many places in South England flooded, July
16-17 Chongqing, China 227mm (9inch) of rain in a 24-hr period breaks records
of previous years, which occurred also in Northeastern India and Northwestern
Pakistan. Floods triggered by incessant rain also affected many parts of Africa
during the same period.
In the year
2012, the year tagged the year of extreme weather, July rainfall across the
world was also high. In India, rainfall across the country was 87 percent of
average. According to Japan Metrological Agency, 24-hours rainfall of up to
500mm(20 inches) was observed on Japan's southern Island of Kyusu. Subsequent flooding
and landslides killed more than two dozen. Heavy rains, flooding and landslides
in southeastern Brazil caused 13,000 residents to flee homes. Record breaking flooding
in southwestern Queensland and northern New South Wales led to isolation of
entire towns and abandonment of thousands of homes. More than half a foot(6.7 inches) of rain fell
within 16 hours near Beijing, leading to at least 77 deaths, about 700,000
Beijing resident have been evacuated and 500 flights cancelled.
So for 2017, between July 1-7, places such as: Clinton and
Herkimer New York, parts of Japan, India and China have experienced torrential
rainfall that has caused serious landslide, damages and deaths. Before you use
your pen to discredit Lagos, get the right information. Most of these cities have
in-place flood mitigation plans, early warning system and proper city planning.
However, they are also and most hit by the July torrential rainfall. Sometime
nature has to be nature.
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