Greetings everyone,

Greetings to everyone in this community as the Steemit Engagement Challenge Season 5 weeek 2 brought me here and this is my entry for the theme of this week's contest from this community.

Designed using Pixellab

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INTRODUCTION

This contest theme couldn't have come in anytime better as I am currently in the midst of a flood disaster for the past 2 weeks which is having its devastating toll on every citizen of Bayelsa state and beyond in Nigeria.

What3words Location 📍

Flood has been the major devastating natural disaster we experience at least every 2 years in this part of the world which has continually affected negatively the social, environmental, financial and healthy being of the masses in Bayelsa and Nigeria at large.

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FLOOD AND HOW IT AFFECTS US

Flood is defined as the overflowing of water from water bodies onto lands that are usually dry and submerging these lands. This simply means water covering areas of land.

The Flood has affected and displaced a lot of individuals from their homes across the entire Bayelsa state, rendering them homeless to either squat with relatives or worse, seek refuge in Internally Displaced Camps. In some communities houses are being submerged totally.

Myself in a tricycle; early days of the flood	People packing out of their homes

A house submerged	A transformer in water

Those who have no relatives and nowhere to go are seen seeking shelter by the roads. The flood has also resulted in severe property loss and damage ranging from buildings, infrastructures, furniture and home appliances. Flood disasters are severe to civilization, communities and institutions.

The flood severely affects residents of the state, their businesses and schools, which has led to the shutting down of several businesses which in turn has increased the cost of leaving as the prices of foodstuff has skyrocketed, transportation difficulty is at its peek as scarcity of petrol meant the higher cost for the available one as a litre of petrol now sells for NGN 700 (4.2 steems) compared to the N180 (1.1 steems) it was sold for as of two weeks ago.

	A submerged bridge

	A submerged bridge

The devastating effects of the flood didn't stop there, as it also destroyed a lot of farmlands and infrastructures ranging from roads to bridges thus cutting off the state capital from most towns and other states alike not forgetting the loss of lives as the current body count in the state capital yenagoa is 8, 5 children, 1 woman and 2 youths (male).

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CAUSES OF THE FLOOD

I recall never experiencing such floods when I was a kid, but as it stands a lot of things have changed as it is fast becoming a perennial event in this part of the world. Several factors contribute to flooding such as Global warming, heavy rainfall, Coastal storms, Blocked or overloaded drainage systems, poor or non-existent drainage, poor waste management, unregulated urban expansion etc.

The current flood situation we are suffering from right now is a combination of all these factors and the opening of the Cameron dam. This widespread flooding we are witnessing across Nigeria today was caused by heavy rainfall and the release of excess water from the dam of our neighbouring country Cameroon into River Benue, which has led to immense suffering from all the states well around the coastline of the great river. It is confirmed that 27 out of the 36 States in Nigeria is affected by the flood this year.

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WAS THERE A PRIOR ALERT FROM THE GOVERNMENT?

This disheartening and bitter situation was earlier forecast by the Director General, of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) that approximately 233 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 32 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria falls within the probable areas of high flooding, with 212 more LGAs in 35 States to expect a Moderate flood.

This warning was made to back up the 2022 Seasonal Climate Predictions released earlier by Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Annual Flood Outlook released by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).

This prediction led to the Minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, calling on appropriate stakeholders to take foresighted steps in addressing flood and its associated impacts.

The painful aspect was that even with all these warnings nothing feasible was done to mitigate this disastrous outcome. Rather we are left to count our teeth with our tongue. It is also a very painful experience as it has taken an entire Federal forever to build a Dam of our own to receive all these overflows of the Cameron Dam.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO IN CASE OF A SITUATION LIKE THAT?

In situations like this, there is little or nothing that can be done to stop the flooding but only to mitigate its severe effects. But since no proactive measures were taken to this effect. Everyone had to seek various means to reduce their losses to a bearable cost. As we heard the news of the imminent flood, we did carry out certain actions of our own.

With the Flood in full swing, we did the much we could to reduce our losses by;

• Moving our furniture and properties that could be costly when damaged to higher ground where we believed the water won't get to.

• Unplugging all our electronic appliances and equipment and switching off our control room.

• Evacuating our home to seek shelter in a place of higher ground due to our experiences with the 2018 flood case.

• Frequently checking various media platforms for information and updates regarding the floods.

• Fumigating our surroundings to protect us against reptiles and poisonous creatures as they seek higher grounds also.

• Making sure to sleep under mosquito nets as the stagnant water meant a lot of breeding spaces for mosquitoes.

• Rendering our little assistance if and when you can to those in need as it's never easy for anyone in times like this.

Fortunately, we had some cash with us so we did get most of the major foodstuff and groceries we need before all this cost increase.

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CONCLUSION

The experience of flood leaves a devastating effect on its victims so as much as we cannot prevent natural causes like rain and overflowing rivers due to tidal changes, we can reduce or even stop man-made causes like poor or non-existence drainage systems, climate damage, lack of or poor Dams etc. We could as well learn a thing or two from nations like Singapore which never experiences floods despite having massive rainfall.

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I wish to invite @Ruthjoe, @Preye2 and @Patjewell, and any other persons who would like to participate too to CLICK HERE for more instructions.

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All Images were shared from my Gallery

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PHOTO DETAILS
Photographer	@Sahmie
Camera Device	Redmi note 11
Camera	Rear
Pixels	50MP
Category	Lifestyle, Flood
Location	Yenagoa, Bayelsa state. Nigeria

NOTE: Always have a smile on your face, as you are never fully dressed without one.