Disasters, Featured
LAGOSIANS had a hectic time on the roads on Thursday as a 12-hour downpour left the roads flooded, leading to unprecedented traffic snarl.
Vehicular movement was hampered across the metropolis, from Berger to Ikeja, to Lagos Island via Third Mainland Bridge, Agege to Oshodi, enroute Mile 2, Ikorodu to Lagos Island, Sango Toll Gate to Oshodi.
Residents on the Badagry axis had a tough time moving out from their homes, as did those in Lekki, Ajah and Epe.
Thursday’s rainfall which started at dawn was the fourth day of rainfall in Lagos, which has started recording casualties with the death of two in Ogudu, where a storey-building collapsed on Wednesday.
Many motorists took to social media, especially Facebook, to post their frustration on the road as traffic was at a standstill for hours.
The entire Ikeja along was flooded. Same was recorded at Abraham Adesanya on the Lekki Epe Expressway as well as several roads within the metropolis where vehicles were almost submerged by the unprecedented rise in water level and flooded roads.
In Awka, the Anambra State capital, residents bemoaned bad roads which they said worsen the effect of flooding in the area.
The Lagos State Government had in February warned of high potential of rainfall this year, warning residents living in low lands to be wary of high level of water.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Drainages, Mr. Tunji Bello who gave the warning had disclosed that the government would be making on cleaning all the state’s major channels and canals to reduce the devastating effect of the flood on residents.
Lagos is Nigeria’s epicentre of the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic and experts are saying the advent of the rain and its attendant flood might further worsen the situation forcing many resident to come down with the infection.
A four-year-old girl was swept away by flash flood in the Orile Agege area of the state.
Motorists lamented being stuck in traffic for several hours.
A commercial bus driver, Isiaka Rauf, said he pushed his vehicle through the floodwaters yesterday after it broke down.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said 20 families were displaced at Ashafa in Orile-Agege.
Awka residents have called on Governor Willie Obiano to urgently rehabilitate failed portions of certain roads within the city before the rainy season intensified. They were particularly worried about Chief S. M. Okeke Street Awka, located behind the state Ministry of Works and connecting Ukwuorji on the popular Zik Avenue Awka.
Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved residents, Obiora Chukwudi said fixing the road had become expedient following recent incident involving a woman and her three-month-old baby.
He said, “The woman was coming from a hospital with her child, unfortunately, the whole place was flooded due to heavy downpour in the area and she fell into the water with her child.
“It took the intervention of bystanders to rescue both of them, though the situation seriously affected the health of the baby whom we gathered is now on admission in an undisclosed hospital”.
The Nation
– June 19, 2020 @ 08:25 GMT |
Tags: Flood sweeps across Lagos
