Health & Environmental Problems Associated with Flooding in Rivers

Flooding has caused several damages to the environment. It has resulted in loss of lives, communicable diseases, erosions, hunger, displacement of businesses, displacement of residential houses, drains of farm land and market places. The topography of the Rivers State makes it prone to be adversely affected by the flow of excess water attempting to find its way into the Atlantic Ocean.Floods are the most common natural disaster in the World, occurring in almost all the countries that lie in the coastal region in the past decade. Flooding has extensive and significant effects on health, spanning the short and long terms and ranging from drowning and injuries to infectious diseases and mental-health problems (WHO, 2011), however, over the past 10 years, flooding killed 1000 people and affected more than 3.4 million. Two thirds of such deaths are from drowning, and the remainder from physical trauma, heart attacks, electrocution, carbon monoxide poisoning and fire.