The Federal Government said it has established 15 community-based Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) in 307 flood-prone locations across the country in a bid to prevent colossal damage to human and material assets in the event of another flood.

Against the background of wide spread damage caused by last year' s massive flood, officials said the alert systems have the capacity to forecast likely flooding with five-day lead time.

The early warning alert system has been successful in forewarning several communities of impending flood incidences since 2011.

According to a report by the Federal Ministry of Environment on the steps being taken to tackle the debilitating effects of flood, oil spill and erosion menace in the country, the ministry has also embarked on initiatives to control erosion and oil spill.

The ministry said it has commenced action on the World Bank funded National Erosion and watershed Management Project and execution of 15 critical gully erosion site in the south-east of the country as part of measures to contain damaging impact of natural disasters.

It has also embarked on the construction of flood and inland erosion control structures nationwide as well as coastal protection structures along the Nation's coastline and major water ways.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had embarked on similar initiative to check flood disaster by recruiting and training of more volunteers to help improve its capacity and readiness to respond to emergency situations in the rural areas.