Disaster preparedness is hard, expensive, time-consuming, and often thankless work. Failure to invest in it can be catastrophic, however.

Nigerians fear that flooding in October 2018 could be as bad as or worse than it was in 2012, when two million Nigerians were displaced and 363 died. In 2015, floods displaced 100,000 and led to 53 deaths. In 2016, 92,000 were displaced 38 died. In 2017, floods affected 250,000.