HURRICANE EXPECTED IN NIGERIA AND THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA

City authorities of Lagos have issued a stern warning to residents in Lagos to be vigilant following the giant cyclone christened Hurricane Sandy, currently causing havoc in some parts of the United States of America.

About some 7.5million people in the United States are left without electricity following the hurricane.

The Lagos State commissioner for waterfront and infrastructure development, Prince Segun Oniru, who disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos, alerted the residents to a likely effect of the hurricane in the state's coastal areas. There could be a strong surge in the next seven to 14 days, he indicated.

His reason for the warning is the fact that the location of Lagos lies parallel to the South America region which is likely to translate in to ripple effect on the coastal countries in West Africa.

"We want to let residents of Lagos to know what is going on, and what to expect; it is not to create panic. They should be careful around the ocean and lagoon. In the last five to six days, around the Caribbean -- from Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba -- Hurricane Sandy has hit the east coast of America’’ he disclosed.

"Normally, when such happens and the magnitudes if it hits that part of the world, we always have a ripple effect in Lagos and around the West Coast of Africa. Our main concern is Lagos; it is a warning but not to create panic. Lagos lies parallel to the South America part of the world on the map, but Super storm Sandy has hit New York City and the Atlantic and the West part. That part of the world is northern to us, but we need to note that within the next 7 to 14 days, we may get a ripple effect’’ he further elaborated.

"The time frame given is from experience from the past. It's from what we have witnessed here in Lagos particularly when any cyclone hits South America part of the world; because of our proximity to them, the ripple effect happens within 7 to 14 days; it's a trend."

But is unclear whether this could possible affect other West African nations including Ghana. The National Turk had made frantic effort to talk to authorities about possible effect from this hurricane in Accra but city authorities said they do not have any information concerning any effect from the Metrologic department as at now. We will keep on updating our readers on this developing story.