Parts of Rivers State including the capital city, Port Harcourt, were on Tuesday submerged following flooding that occurred due to several hours of rainfall.
Submerged areas were the Port Harcourt Mall (SPAR), main entrances into the Government House, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Rivers State Secretariat Complex.
Motorists were seen stranded as their cars were nearly covered in water while commuters walked to their various destinations.
Thousands of residents, particularly those living in D/Line, Rumuomasi, and Rukpokwu areas as well as Elekahia and Choba communities were rendered helpless as water made its way into their houses.
Other affected areas include Azikiwe Road, Bank Road, Ikwerre Road, Peter Odili Road, Stadium Road, Sani Abacha, and Olu Obasanjo Roads.
Residents who spoke to TPCN blamed the development on poor structural planning of the city as well as inadequate drainage systems.
“Why won’t it flood when there are little or no gutters in Port Harcourt. I can’t sleep in my house because my properties have been swallowed by water. Go into some streets, there are no gutters. Look at how refuse is scattered everywhere as a result of poor sanitation. The government has to do something about this and not only build flyovers that won’t take us anywhere,” a victim said.
Meanwhile, the government of Rivers state has set moves to tackle impending floods as predicted by the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA).
In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, with council chairmen, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials, and other Agencies in Port Harcourt, Governor Wike, through the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, stressed the importance to prepare ahead of the floods.
He urged council Chairmen to work in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to put up appropriate measures in preparedness for emergencies that may arise as a result of flooding.
Dagogo charged residents to imbibe good sanitary habits such as dumping of refuse inappropriate trash cans and not into the gutters or build on water channels, as he noted that such crude habits will only encourage flood situations across the state.
16 Local government areas identified to be affected by adverse rain include Port Harcourt, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Asari Toru, Akuku Toru, Etche, Eleme, Abua/Odual, Andoni, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Obio/Akpor, Khana, Oyigbo, Okrika, Tai, and Ogu/Bolo.
