Mental health professionals call this hidden burden one of the least-recognised effects of the climate emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing more people experiencing climate anxiety,\u201d says Dr Faith Aboloje, a trauma recovery expert and founder of online counselling platform, Safe Corner by Jevwe. \u201cUnlike typical stress, this fear is linked to repeated environmental disasters, trapping survivors in anticipation and dread. For some, the sound of rain alone triggers panic, reminding them of what they\u2019ve already lived through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleaners wash Daniel Ebiesua\u2019s salvaged belongings in the courtyard of his home<\/p>\n
She says flood survivors experience \u201cecological grief\u201d. \u201cLosing homes and identities, leading to prolonged struggles that disrupt sleep, health and relationships, and leave communities emotionally drained long after floods.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Okun Alfa, a low-lying village on the island part of Lagos, 26-year-old driver Joseph Moko lives with recurring floods. \u201cWhenever it rains at night, I find it hard to sleep because I could wake up any moment and find my bed submerged,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m always alert, listening to the rain, ready to gather my things before the water gets into the house. You can never truly rest because you don\u2019t know what the next hour will bring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vigilance takes a mental toll, says Moko. \u201cEvery time the rain starts falling, the fear comes back. You pay rent hoping you\u2019ll have a peaceful place to sleep, but instead you\u2019re anxious all night, wondering if the flood will come again. It\u2019s mentally exhausting, and it\u2019s a very, very bad feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency has warned of another dangerous flooding season this year, putting more than 14,000 communities at high risk and at least 15,000 at moderate risk.<\/p>\n
A flooded street in Okota, Lagos<\/p>\n
Behind the statistics are families who repeatedly rebuild homes, relocate their children, take out loans and start again.<\/p>\n
Climate advocates such as Jennifer Uchendu of SustyVibes describe another consequence known as \u201callostatic overload\u201d \u2013 prolonged stress. \u201cHaving to live with constant environmental threats keeps people in a heightened state, raising risks of depression, anxiety, hypertension, heart disease and weaker immunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike trauma, chronic climate stress develops gradually, often making it difficult to notice when it starts affecting every aspect of daily life.<\/p>\n
Glory Sunday in her waterlogged farmland in Nigeria\u2019s Ogun state<\/p>\n
In Abule Ogun, Ogun state, this year\u2019s rains brought disaster for smallholder Glory Sunday, destroying her maize and pumpkin crops. \u201cOnly a little maize survived. The ugu (fluted pumpkin) was completely destroyed,\u201d she says. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t survive because of too much flood water on the farm. I might not survive the flood if it comes again.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a severe financial blow, the flooded farm destroyed months of hard work and a harvest that would have supported her four children. \u201cIf everything had gone well, we could have made about 500,000 naira (\u00a3270) from the ugu.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Lagos, Kenechukwu Okosa had gone to church on the morning of the last Sunday in June. On his way back to his business, Cloudearth Farms in Okota, he began receiving calls that his fish farm was flooding. \u201cThe caller told me on the phone that everything don go, all your fish don go, my heart just sank.\u201d<\/p>\n
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