I will never forget the dreadful floods of 2016 that claimed the life of my baby sister and my school friend.
Where I live in the North-East of Nigeria, Borno State, is usually hot and we do not see a lot of rain.
But as greenhouse gases cause the earth’s temperature to rise, scientists are projecting more unpredictable and extreme weather.
Rainstorms are already becoming more intense and we have all come to dread the rainy season.
The day my six-month-old baby sister, Rumaitha, was taken from us was August 19, 2016.
At school that day everyone was talking about the changing weather; the usually grey and white clouds were looking darker and ominous.
My schoolmates and I were looking forward to the breaktime when the daylight suddenly turned into darkness.
I sat still in my chair in fear.
Many of the kids in the classroom put their heads on their desks with their eyes closed.
In the blink of an eye, heavy rain began to fall, pounding on the roof of the classroom like someone trying to force their way into a locked room.
Hours went by and the rain finally slowed down, we were allowed to leave and go home - to what was left of it.
On the walk home my schoolmates and I saw entire neighbourhoods under water, people desperately trying to salvage what was left of their belongings.
Some buildings had their roofs blown off; a few houses completely collapsed.
I continued to walk home in the soggy soil, with the soles of my shoes heavy with mud.
My stomach churned because I did not know what to expect when I would get home.
The building we lived in was still standing, but inside the havoc wreaked by the flood was shocking.
My mother breathed a sigh of relief on seeing me.
The floodwater had destroyed my storybooks and toys.
All of this, though, was not as painful as the news that my baby sister had drowned.
My mother told me she was in the kitchen - not part of the main building - and was sleeping in the room which had been struck worst by the rain.
My mother did not get to her in time due to the storm. I was heartbroken.
Rumaitha was dainty and playful, I couldn’t believe she was gone.
My family was distraught.
I did not know how or where we slept that day.
I wished I had wings so I could fly away to a calm and happy place.
I awoke the next day amid the gloom, still gripped by grief.
But there was no hope of comfort as I learnt one of my friends was swept away by the flood when she fell into a ditch.
She was found floating in the water a day after the rain.
The disaster that followed that rain still makes me sad.
We moved away from that area, but it will be forever ingrained in my memory.
I hope and pray I do not witness a disaster like that again but as global warming continues, the IPCC predicts that the frequency and intensity of rainfall will only increase across Africa.
Humans do not have ultimate power over nature, but I believe we can do things to reduce its negative impacts on us.
In my community, people have also contributed to the damage and deaths by building houses on flood paths.
I want the government to remove buildings on flood paths, build proper drainage and take these small steps to protect our future.
- You can help by donating to Save the Children’s emergency fund: www.savethechildren.org.uk/mirrorclimatecrisis
