"The flood also affected 12 schools, six houses and 45 shops at the Abakaliki Building Material Market."

The State Emergency Management Agency in Ebonyi State says that two people have so far died in the flood that has ravaged some parts of the state since June.

The agency's Executive Secretary, Clement Ovuoba, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abakaliki on Tuesday.

Mr Ovuoba said that an expectant mother, Ozoemena Ugbega, and a young man lost their lives in the disaster.

"The flood also affected 12 schools, six houses and 45 shops at the Abakaliki Building Material Market.

He said the incident affected 173 people from Ikwo, Izzi, Abakaliki and Afikpo local government areas of the state.

He also said that 261 hectares of farmlands were destroyed.

"These local governments are the flood-prone areas predicted by NiMet and NEMA," Mr Ovuoba said.

He quoted the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as having predicted that the disaster would persist until November.

Mr Ovuoba appealed to NEMA "to look into our reports for more interventions because we lacked relief and rehabilitation materials.

"We have complete reports on the level of disaster in each community in all the LGAs mentioned," Mr Ovuoba said.

He said the agency had continued to educate the public through town hall meetings with community stakeholders, traditional leaders, youths and women, and radio and television programmes on disaster tips and management.

He, therefore, urged the residents in the riverine communities to relocate upland from flood-prone areas.