Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
Black-coloured showers are currently falling in Port Harcourt today, making some residents of the city wonder if a black substance was shot into the atmosphere.
The black-coloured rain is being avoided by people since it started falling in the late morning hours if today, Wednesday, 6th October 2021. TPCN learnt that many people around their homes and offices noticed it in time and started calling their loved ones who might be on the road to avoid being wetted by the strange rain.
A lady who sells beverages and confectioneries in her store at NTA Road, Mgbuoba, told TPCN reporter: “When this rain started, I saw that the small flood rushing from the express road to our street was pure black. I thought somebody poured black something on the road. But as the rain continued, I looked at my door and I saw that the one falling from up is also black.
“I just ran inside our yard to tell my mother not to fetch the water because we can’t even use it to wash anything. My mother and my sister said they have noticed the lack of colour. So they poured the one that fell into our rubber away. Some of our neighbors said it’s Kpo fire,” she narrated.
TPCN gathered that the rain stained some people’s clothes, especially those wearing white.
The general opinion of many residents is that the colour of the rain is caused by black soot resulting from the operations of illegal refineries. The black soot has, in recent years, become a frequent occurrence in Rivers State, an issue that has severally sparked reactions, arguments and discussions on why and how the menace could be tackled, yet without any practical action being taken to eliminate it.
