The Nation Newspaper

Tag: flood

  • Flood ravages Jigawa

    Flood sweeps through Jigawa State, leaving no fewer than seven persons dead and over 1000 houses destroyed, AHMED RUFAI reports

    The floodwaters washed out thousands of hectares of farmlands and food items. Over 1,000 houses were destroyed, thousands of families displaced. But by the far the worst effect of the flood was the death of no fewer than seven persons. Jigawa State has been grieving since flood swept through it.

    Some local councils were hit harder than others, our reporter found out. Those in a very bad shape include Jahun, Gwaram, Gumel, Guri, Kazaure, Maigatari and Sule Tankarkar.

    When contacted, the executive secretary of the state’s emergency management agency (SEMA), Alhaji Yusif Sani Babura said about 688 houses were destroyed in Jahun Cikin Gari and Gunka town of Jahun Local Government Area.

    Babura explained that a building collapsed, killing three people in Guri Local Government Area, while seven persons were hospitalised at Tsohon Kafi and Jumawa villages of Kazaure and Sule Tankarkar Local Government Areas.

    Alhaji Sani Babura added, saying, “Also, three people died, one drowning in a well while a building collapsed and killed others at Larabawa, Jikas and Garewa of Gwaram and Maigatari local government areas.”

    There were other disasters. Many public buildings, mostly primary and secondary schools, were also flooded in many parts of the state, including Dutse, the capital city. Those affected facilities have been abandoned.

    Residents of Dutse faced other challenges as a result of the flood. For instance, the drainages and water ways have been blocked, making vehicular and even pedestrian movement difficult. The blocked drains have also slowed the evacuation of the floodwaters.

    This has presented other concerns. If the rains continued, more buildings could give way, some feared.

    The flood wreaked havoc in 27 local government councils of the state, destroying guest houses there. Houses were destroyed in Dutse Old GRA, Yalwawa, Godiya Miyetti, Mopol Base, Sabuwan Takur as well as buildings behind federal university.

    The executive secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency said the state government has sent its staff to take inventory and assess the level of loss and damages so that the government could take appropriate action.

    He called on the government and non-governmental organisations and wealthy individuals to immediately assist people who were affected by the flood.

    The former Speaker of House of Representatives also said that he was not unaware of the fact that boosting the economy must ensure serious infrastructural development of the state that will enhance the Internally Generated Revenue through agriculture, power, education and maintaining standard health care facilities.

    In a recent economic summit held in Katsina, Governor Masari, before President Muhammadu Buhari and his economic team, reiterated that Katsina is endowed in both natural and human resources and he called on the captains of industry and other interested investors not to miss the opportunity to invest in Katsina so as to lay a solid foundation for the growth of the state and have value for their money.

     

  • Flood: Council seeks help

    The Sole Administrator of Agboyi/Ketu Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Tunji Ilelaboye, has urged the Federal Government to assist the government and people of Lagos State with the ecological fund, to mitigate the effect of flood.

    Speaking while inspecting the areas affected by flood in his domain, Ilelaboye lamented the effect of flood, stating that the state required federal intervention to tackle flooding.

    He urged the state government to assist the council in clearing blocked drainage channels, listing the channel running through at Owodunni, Emmanuel, Adisa Balogun, Unity, Agboyi Road, Animashaun down to the Agboyi River as those requiring immediate aatention.

    Ilelaboye advised residents to refrain from dumping refuse into the canals and drainage channels for free flow of water.

    He berated the building of structures on canals drainage with at Alhaji Temitope Close, near Araba Crescent.

    The council chief sought the assistance of the Lagos State Special Task Force on the Environment and Miscellaneous Offences on the removal abandoned vehicles from the streets.

    According to him, the vehicles were being used as hideouts by miscreants.

  • Floods threaten communities in Akwa Ibom

    Floods threaten communities in Akwa Ibom

    The predictions by the Nigerian Metrological Agency, (NiMeT) and the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) on the impending flood in some parts of the country especially in the South-South has taken its toll on some parts of Akwa Ibom as water levels have generally risen beyond the conventional, writes Kazeem Ibrahym

    The Nigerian Metrological Agency, (NiMeT) had warned of impending flooding this year in 11 states of Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Kaduna, Kwara, Nasarawa, Yobe and Zamfara.

    At Nto Edino, headquarters of Obot Akara Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, the tidal waves have led to the collapsed of the only bridge that links Akwa Ibom State with Abia State, thereby impacting negatively on business activities between the two states.

    The situation has hampered the ongoing construction of 6.41km Nto Edino – Ekwere-Azu road project in the area, and made many commuters to find it difficult to cross either side for fear of being drowned.

    When The Nation visited the affected area, the flood had also caused serious harm to some portion of the Nto Edino Road currently under construction by the State Government, as most of the earth works, between the two parallel rivers for which two bridges are under construction, have been washed away.

    Infact the two parallel rivers which are more than 250m apart have been merged into one huge river. Even farmlands close to the river area have also been submerged.

    The managing director of the construction company handling the road, Seyang Limited, Mr Samuel Inyang said although the job has been seriously affected by the development, his company was committed to executing the job to completion.

    Inyang, an engineer, said that the disaster took everybody unawares, adding that he informed the State Government via both the supervising Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Environment on the development.

    Some community leaders in the area told our reporter that though their farmlands have been washed away and movement hampered, they were happy that the flood has come at a time the road construction was taking place.

    Chief Etim Udo from Nto Edino said they were sleeping with their eyes open because of the development, calling on the state and federal governments to come to their aid.

    Udo, who is a retired engineer with the erstwhile Cross River Ministry of Works, said the two submerged bridges should be incorporated into the road construction work, if the flood disaster is to be contained.

    He, however, thanked the Gov. Udom Emmanuel-led government for awarding the contract to an indigenous firm that has the “capacity and expertise to deliver.”

    Only recently, the Akwa Ibom government directed the chairmen of 15 Local Government Areas prone to flooding to build camps for rescue of victims in view of anticipated flood.

    The state deputy governor, Mr Moses Ekpo, represented by the state’s Flood Sensitisation Campaign Team led by the director of administration, Deputy Governor’s Office, Mrs Ekaette Ekanem, gave the directive at Itu centre of the campaign.

    It is on record that the state government had already categorised the 15 flood prone local government areas into four groups for purpose of the sensitisation.

    The Oron group comprised of Oron, Udung Uko, Mbo, Urue Offong/Oruko and Okobo LGAs while Ibeno group or centre was made up of Eket, Esit Eket, Onna and Ibeno Local Government Areas.

    The local government areas in Ikot Abasi group or centre are Mkpat Enin, Eastern Obolo, Ikot Abasi while Itu centre comprised of  Uruan, Ibiono Ibom and Itu Local Government Areas.

    Ekanem said that the state government was working towards providing relief materials to victims of flooding that would be identified by the local council authority during the emergency.

    Her words:  ”The local government chairmen are instructed to prepare emergency camps for the people upland.

    “The state government will assist with other relief materials should the anticipated flood occurs.”

    She advised the people living in coastal communities to begin retrieving their valuables and relocate to upland now before the anticipated flood takes place.

    Ekanem also provide emergency telephone lines to the people and pleaded with them to call for help during flood disaster and any emergency.

    The sensitisation team is made up of personnel from the State Ministries of Environment, Information and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

     

  • Rainfall: Lagos allays fears of residents, appeals for calm

    The Lagos State Government has allayed the fears of residents over the torrential rainfall witnessed in the State on Sunday, saying that necessary steps had been taken to avert any incidence of flood disaster in the State.

    The State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, in a statement on Sunday said that the State Government had in recent times carried out intensive tour of some flood prone communities in the State to clear up blocked drainages and canals.

    The commissioner wondered why any right thinking person would be dumping refuse on water courses and drainages created for free flow of storm water, saying the numerous campaigns against such practice was for the interest of the residents.

    “Canal is a storm water channel for the conveyance of storm runoffs, they are God’s natural protection for holding water during massive flood and it is not a place for anybody to build a house or dump refuse. Those in the habit of doing such must stop henceforth,” Adejare said.

    Allaying fears of teeming Lagosians apprehensive of the rain, the Commissioner said that indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the gutters had caused a lot of environmental disasters, warning that the government would no longer tolerate the building of illegal structures along channel right of ways in the state.

    To this end, he said the government had since begun demolishing illegal structures and shanties erected on the drains especially in flood prone areas.

    Adejare, however, urged residents living on wetlands and flood prone areas to be cautious and careful, urging them to limit their movement if possible and to move to higher ground if need be.

    He explained that it is their responsibility as a government to protect lives and property, appealing for the cooperation of all Lagosians in their quest to avert any flood mishap in the state.

  • Flood destroys 300 houses in Yobe

    Alhaji Musa Jidawa, Executive Secretary, Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), on Wednesday, said that over 300 houses, farmlands and livestock had been destroyed by flood in Jakusko and Adaya communities.

    He made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu.

    Jidawa said, “We received report of over 250 houses destroyed in Jakusko and about 54 others in Adaya but no life was lost, the affected people are taking shelter with relations in the communities.”

    The executive secretary added that the state government had provided food, clothes and building materials to the victims to assist them resettle.

    Jidawa said that the agency had embarked on enlightenment campaign, urging communities on waterways to vacate the water routes to avoid disaster.

    “There are early warning signals indicating flood in some states, including Yobe, we have therefore addressed flood prone communities to evacuate the water path.

    “There are communities that have suffered flooding in many years; we are still calling on these communities to leave the waterways.”

    According to the executive secretary, Ngelzarma, Jajere, Nangere, Buduwa, Nguru, Gashua, Damagum, Dapchi and some communities in Tarmuwa experience flooding almost every year.

    He urged residents of towns and villages to evacuate drainage and avoid constructing buildings or dumping refuse in such a way that it would block the waterways.

    “There will be fewer floods if we make room for free flow of water in our communities.”

    NAN reports that two unidentified corpses of young boys were recently recovered by fishermen from river Nguru.

  • 2012 flood: Displaced villagers still live in public buildings in Edo

    Four years after the 2012 flood in Edo State, many displaced persons are still staying in public buildings in the affected local government areas, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    Five villages – Daba, Anegbette, Oghomere, Udochi and Ukepeko – all in Etsako Central Local Government Area, were displaced by the flood.

    Also, homes and food crops worth millions of naira were destroyed, forcing the residents to relocate to public buildings.

    Although some have moved out of the camps, many who had no option are still at the temporary camps.

    To relocate such villagers and provide shelter to victims of similar disasters in the future, the Federal Government built a resettlement camp at Oghomere-Ekperi.

    The Coordinator of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr Edward Osigbeme, told NAN in Benin, the state capital, that the camp would be completed soon.

    He said the project had reached 90 per cent completion level, adding: “The project will be handed over to the state government in the next few weeks.”

    Osigbeme said some of the facilities at the camp include single rooms, one bedroom apartments, open dormitory, boreholes, stores, relaxation centres and security post.

    The site engineer Lucky Iyamah said the camp had reached 90 per cent completion level.

    Iyamah said: “The camp is almost completed. What is left is not much. The camp will be ready in the next few months.”

    The Egiegbai of Ekperi, Chief Deke Kanoba, who hailed the Federal Government for the project, urged the affected persons to be patient.

    He said the Federal Government was working hard to complete the project.

  • Flood kills three in Kano

    Flood kills three in Kano

    Three persons died and crops worth millions of naira were washed away by flood in Hayin Gwarmai, Bebeji Local Government of Kano State, after Sunday’s rain.

    Council Chairman Mudansiru Bebeji told reporters yesterday that the flood also washed away farmlands and houses.

    He has paid a sympathy visit to victims, and called on  governments to aid the victims.

    “We are calling on the federal and Kano State government to assist the victims to reduce their suffering,” he said.

    Director, Operations, Kano State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (SERERA), Abdullahi Dambatta, said the agency had not received any official report on the incident.

    Dambatta, however, said as soon as the agency got the report, it would forward same to the government for action.

  • Flood wreaks havoc in Ebonyi

    Flood wreaks havoc in Ebonyi

    •‘Building on waterways causes flood’

    Residents of Ebonyi State have decried their woes following last weekend’s downpour.

    A fish farm in Abakaliki, the state capital, Oluchika Nigeria Limited, yesterday said it lost over 4,000 fish to the flood.

    Conducting our reporter round the farm at 6, Edda Close, the company’s Manager, Mr. Onwe David, said:

    “We lost over 4,000 fish to the flood. The damage is so much that we are feeling terrible.”

    The manager said the flood destroyed one of the company’s biggest ponds.

    According to him, the wall demarcating the farm and Salt Lake Hotel caved in, forcing flood water into the farm.

    The company’s chairman, Bestman Anikwe, regretted that millions of naira were lost to the flood.

    He noted that despite government’s effort to contain flooding by building a canal to channel the water, the velocity of the rain forced the water out of the canal.

    Anikwe urged the government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assist the affected residents and companies.

    He said: “We pray they will help the people as the water is trying to overpower them.”

    In Ohaozara Local Government Area, the Ohaozara West Development Centre building and an Assemblies of God Church building were damaged by the heavy winds that accompanied the rain.

    Chairman of Ohaozara Local Government Area, Justice Ogbonna, who confirmed the damage, thanked God that no lives were lost to the disaster.

    The council chairman said his administration had done a thorough assessment of the damage and forwarded same to the Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency (EBSEMA) for onward transmission to NEMA.

    Secretary of EBSEMA Pastor Ken Eze said the agency was making an assessment of the damages with a view to reporting to NEMA and the state government.

    “I do believe that as we send our report to them they will respond with relief materials very soon” he said.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has urged the state government to checkmate the erection of structures on water ways to prevent flooding.

    Southeast Coordinator Martins Udeinya spoke while accessing the damage caused by last weekend’s flooding.

    He said: “Sometimes hard decisions must be taken in order to build sustainable cities. So, it is my advice that government must really do something about the development of the city.

    “People cannot be allowed to build on water ways because it is disaster in the waiting; one day it will happen whether we like it or not.

    “The institutions or authorities responsible for controlling urban development should live up to expectation and ensure that people are not allowed to build on water ways.

    “It is a very hard decision to take but if you take it, you are ensuring sustainability of the future because one bad thing about flood disaster is that you don’t know the dimension it can take.

    “Efforts should be made by government to ensure that people don’t build on water ways and on our own part, we are going to step-up sensitization on flood prevention and mitigation and what people are expected to do for flood prevention and mitigation and other issues around disaster risk reduction’’.

    He described the damage done by the flood as terrible.

    “It is a terrible devastation. I saw lots of devastation; no one can believe that a flood disaster can be of this magnitude.

    “It has affected many people, it has affected properties, it has affected livelihood. So many things caused it. Streams that supposed to flow free were chased to narrow areas. The chasing of the streams into narrow areas directly or indirectly affected free flow of streams”.

    “I have been directed by the Director- General of National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi to proceed as a matter of urgency to Ebonyi state to look at the devastation and report back to him. We will send the report to Abuja to tell them what we have seen with a view to assisting the victims,” Udeinya said.

     

  • Flood sacks Ibadan communities

    Flood sacks Ibadan communities

    Hundreds of residents in parts of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, were on Wednesday night sacked from their homes by a downpour.

    Severely hit were Agbebukola and Abidogun markets in Ido Local Government Area. Others are communities around Odo-Ona, Oke-Ayo, Omi-Adio, NIHORT, Apata and Gbekuba areas of the city.

    Aside destroying property and goods worth several millions of naira, some bridges linking local communities were also overrun by the flood, rendering many residents stranded.

    The bridge linking NIHORT with Gbekuba and Idi-Ishin was submerged, creating traffic snarls for motorists and breaking the link to offices and homes of many residents.

    It was learnt that the rain started at about 7.15pm and subsided at 11.10pm.

    Community leaders were seen yesterday morning at Lade area of Omi Adio, making distress calls to Nigerian Railway Corporation officials to halt movement of trains to the area to avert accident.

    A private school with boarding facilities situated at Gbekuba area was flooded and many students were trapped in their hostels.

    Sources said some of those rescued in the flood last Wednesday night are receiving medical attention in an undisclosed hospital.

    University College Hospital (UCH) spokesman Mr. Deji Bobade said the hospital has been placed on alert.

    The popular Omi Adio market as well as offices and shops in the area were flooded.

    About 200 shops were estimated to have been destroyed by the flood despite the water channels and drainages constructed by local authorities to control flood.

    Crop farmlands and fish ponds were not spared, as farmers lost huge investments to the flood.

    Though the number of homes flooded could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, but a source said that no fewer than 100 houses were affected at Lade and Gbekuba areas.

    Market women looked amazed yesterday morning as water level rose, covering their shops where goods worth several millions of naira were destroyed.

    A spokesman for the Babalola community, Comrade Tajudeen Oladepo, told reporters that parts of the market affected by the flood include a fuel station, a rail line at Bako area, markets, houses, shops and a magistrate’s court by the side of the market.

    Oladepo, who said he was inside the market till around 12am Thursday morning, added that he made calls across to traders to inform them of the incident.

    According to him, most of the traders – mostly foodstuff sellers – lost almost all their wares to the flood.

    “As you can see, some of them (wet foodstuffs) have been displayed in the sun for drying. The disaster is painful. In fact, some of them who could not withstand the loss collapsed and were resuscitated this morning.

    He appealed to the government to come to the aid of the traders. He also called for a rebuilding of the market to prevent a recurrence.

    Chairman of Rebuild Forum Alabede Emiola said the flood was caused by blockage of River Omi flowing channel.

    Emiola called on both the federal and state governments to dredge the river, adding that the crisis has become an annual occurrence

    Chairman, Ido Local Government Wahab Oladejo expressed surprise at the flood, saying the council just finished dredging rivers in the area. He described the flood as a disaster.

    He said: “This is beyond anybody’s imagination. It is a national disaster. Recently, Governor Abiola Ajimobi directed that all rivers in the local government that are in critical condition should be dredged and this we did last week. So, this incident is amazing.”

    Residents of other areas affected wailed while seeking government’s assistance in finding lasting solution to the perennial flood in the city.

    Recounting her ordeals, a resident at Gbekuba, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Adeogun, said her family had to run out of the house at about 2am, when their rooms were overtaken by flood.

    Another victim, Pa Sulaiman Akande, who lost bags of cocoa seed to the flood, described the downpour as a setback to the community.

    He said despite communal effort to prevent the incident, the flood still came and wreck havocs.

    “We are appealing to the government to act fast now to save the residents from disaster. We don’t know what to expect in the month of August. We believe that state government can prevent this tragedy by constructing modern drainages and dredging the Omi River. We have other rivers within the city. People throw refuse inside them and blocked the waterway; this is quite unfortunate. Let the government improve on the refuse management to avert this problem,” he said.

  • Flood hits Ebonyi

    Flood hits Ebonyi

    No fewer than five communities in Ebonyi State have been grappling with floodwaters after their farmlands were submerged.

    The affected communities are in Ivo Local Government Area of the state.

    Residents of the communities said their farmlands were washed off after a federal government dam under construction forced water to spill over from other channnels into lower-lying lands.

    The incident threw farmers and their families into grief.

    The dam was being built in Npu in Anuri Local Government Area of Enugu State.

    The affected communities are Ameke, Okue, Amaokwe, Ngwo-gwo and Obodo.

    Visiting the dam site on Monday upon learning of the development, Governor David Umahi ordered   a comprehensive report of farms and cash crops destroyed by the flood.

    He noted that the damage was huge, adding that the report would be sent to the federal government with a view to assisting the state and farmers whose means of livelihood had been severely affected.

    He said, “We came to the point of the Ukeh River Dam that is being constructed by the Federal Government in Npu,Anuri Local Government Area of Enugu State.

    “A comprehensive report will be carried out so that we can seek Federal Government’s assistance not only to the state but to the farmers whose agricultural produce has been seriously damaged.”

    The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ivo Local Government Area, Chief O. Ude, who accompanied Governor Umahi to the site of the dam, said the blockade caused water to overflow backwards, thereby   destroying  the farmlands in  the affected communities.

    “If you look back from where we are standing, you will see a river coming down from there; that is Ivo, and this river is Ukeh. So the rivers meet here and it is from here that the constructors created an embankment that makes water to flow backwards.”

    The chairman of Ngwogwo Community Development Union, Mr. Johnson Ukpai, lamented that the fllod had destroyed agricultural produce like yams, cassava, rice, maize and cocoyam.

    He pleaded with the federal government to come to their rescue.

    “The blockage of the dam which resulted in the overflow of water to  our community has caused enormous damage. Our crops like, yams, cassava, rice, maize, cocoyams have been destroyed.”

    Youths of the area were seen displaying cassava tubers which had decayed due to the impact of the flood.

    Mr. Augustine Ossai, a liaison officer in Ivo legislative council, called on the Federal Government and the National Emergency Management Agency to immediately come to the assistance of farmers in the area.