Hundreds of residents in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have been rendered homeless while the farmlands are destroyed due to the ravaging floods in the area.
The situation has caused severe hardship as farmers count their losses as a result of the destruction of their crops especially as they could no longer access their farmlands.
Some of the communities worst affected by the floods are Idu, Ogbidi, Okwuzi, and Omoku, among other adjoining areas.
The displaced residents and families expressed sadness that the floods occurred close to the harvest season, sparking concerns of possible heightened food scarcity among the people who are mainly farmers.
One of the victims, simply identified as Chinyere, said she escaped from her community in Idu Obosiukwu with her children as the place had been submerged.
According to her, “We barely escaped with our lives. The water came so fast, we couldn’t save anything. Now, I’m just worried about my children’s health. We’ve been exposed to the cold and dirty water for days. It’s overwhelming.”
Another displaced resident, a farmer, said: “Everything is gone. I invested all my savings into this year’s planting. Now, I don’t know how I’ll recover”
Speaking to newsmen on Wednesday, an elder in Omoku, headquarters of the LGA, Paul Ogbidi, also lamented the flood which he described as a tragedy saying it had caused so much suffering on his people, even as he called on the government to come to their aid.
Ogbidi said, “I’ve lived here for over 40 years, and I’ve never seen flooding like this. It’s a tragedy. We need help, not just for now, but to prevent this from happening again.”
Meanwhile, Governor Siminialayi Fubara was said to have sent the Rivers State Flood Prevention and Management Committee led by his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, to the affected council.
A statement signed by the Head of Press, Deputy Governor’s Office, Owupele Benebo, confirmed that the committee visited some of the communities and distributed various food items and palliatives to the people affected by the flood.
Odu told the victims that Fubara sent the committee to personally deliver the food items and palliatives to them because he cared for them.
She said setting up the committee and directing them to visit the flood-impacted communities was a demonstration of the Fubara government’s proactive nature and sensitivity to the people.
Odu, who recalled that they were in Ahoada West for two weeks, noted that the Orashi region had always been heavily impacted by floods.
At Okwuzi in Egbema, the deputy governor said beyond the provision of palliatives, the committee would make recommendations on long-term precautions that should be taken to avert recurrence.
“Like they say, doing the same thing the same way cannot give you a different result. All of them have been talking about dredging, dredging the creeks, dredging the rivers. If that is done, the volume of water will go into the river. With that, it will not come into their homes,” the state deputy governor said.
