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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Flood Renders Asaba Landlords, Residents Homeless

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By Amos Igbebe
There are palpable fears in Asaba, the Delta State capital, that the current flood sacking landlords, tenants and business owners along the route of the over flowing River Niger may be of higher intensity than the flood that wreaked havoc on the people of Delta State in 2012.
Already, many residential buildings and business centres had been submerged as the flood, occasioned by the opening of the Lagdo dam in the Cameroons, pours menacingly into the lowland axis of the state capital.
Our correspondent, who visited the Infant Jesus area, Cable Point, Akwuebulu and the Abuta Lane axis of the city, reports that both landlords and tenants had evacuated the buildings on the right of way of the flood as it moves ferociously into the areas, submerging buildings and sacking residents along its track.
Some of the residents, our correspondent reports, were seen conveying their household belongings, including mattresses, beddings, cooking utensils, furniture and other personal effects as the flood moves into buildings, taking over the entire structures in the area.
As at the time of filing this report, one of the residents, Karo James, who lives in the Infant Jesus area of the city, told 247ureports.com that he was making preparations to join his brother in the upland area of Direct Labour Agency (DLA) Road in Asaba.
Karo, who recently got married to Oke from the Isoko area of the state, also said authorities of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) had disconnected the power supply to the area, for fear of electrocuting residents who might step on the flood as it covers the transformer.
Francis Ezediuno, who lives along Abuta Lane, also said the flood had overtaken his room and that he would move out in the next couple of hours.
Ezediuno, a lecturer in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi Uku, said the flood might pour till the end of October before it begins a recession journey into the Niger.
In 2012, the flood wreaked havoc on many communities as over 10 local government areas lying on the bank of the Niger were sacked by the flood, rendering the residents homeless and destroying their farmlands and other means of livelihood.
Prior to the invasion of the flood, the state government had advised Deltans living in the coastal areas to move to the upland areas, but many are of the view that it is difficult to evacuate their ancestral homes to become refugees in other communities.
However, the Delta State Government had set up a committee headed by the state Deputy Governor, Kingsley Otuaro, to assist the government in erecting temporary structures to accommodate and provide feeding for the victims pending when the flood will recede.
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had warned that 12 states might experience high flooding this year. The agency listed River Basins of Sokoto-Rima, Niger-Benue and Anambra as those that might experience high flooding.
It also said Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Lagos are expected to experience coastal flooding due to the rise in sea level and tidal surge.

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