Geospatial Mapping and Analysis of the 2012 Flood Disaster in Central Parts of Nigeria

The flood events of August-October 2012 in Nigeria have pushed rivers over their banks and submerged hundreds of kilometers of urban and rural lands. Flash floods are common features in Nigeria during the rainy season (May-October), but the 2012 floods have been described as the worst in over 40 years. This study therefore aims at the geospatial mapping and analysis of the 2012 flood disaster in parts of Central Nigeria (Niger-Benue-Kogi) as a tool for contingency planning and emergency management. Satellite imageries [MODIS of 20th October, 2008 (prior) and 13th October 2012 (during) provided by NASA; NigeriaSat-1 of 2007, and Quickbird of 2006], Base Maps, SRTM DEM, GPS Coordinates, and flood photographs acquired during field works were integrated to map the flood plain, and analyse the spatial extent and disaster risk areas. A comparison of the prior and during images of the flooded areas showed that, in 2012, both Rivers Niger and Benue burst their banks, engulfing the small lakes, ponds, farmlands and settlements within the flood plain. The estimate of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) by the flood disasters in the study area was about 566 thousand, while crops were ravaged and transportation routes severed in the affected communities. The study showed that, the natural boundary of the flood plain was not exceeded during the flooding, but due to strong affinity to the flood plain by the communities in a claimed reverence to their ancestral heritage of economic survival, there was huge avoidable socio-economic loss to the floods