Environment
THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has commenced door-to-door sensitisation of communities in flood-prone areas of Delta consequent to the prediction of flooding by Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
The NEMA team led by Mr. Dahiru Yusuf, Head of Operation, NEMA Edo Operation Office, made this known in the Riverine Oko-Anala in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta on Monday.
Yusuf said that the essence of the sensitisation was part of the Agency’s preparation and effort to mitigate the impact of flooding on the people.
He noted that NiMet had predicted that Delta was among the states in Nigeria that most probably would suffer flooding this year.
Yusuf said the challenge of flooding had become an annual event and had caused loss of lives and property worth millions of Naira as well as rendered many homeless.
He reminded the people of the community that NiMet had predicted that “Oshimili South is one of the local government areas to be affected by the 2020 flooding.
“In preparation toward this prediction, we have to sensitise the people on what they need to know as well on how to handle such situations”.
He cautioned against building on flood plains and waterways and the need to avoid dumping refuse in drainages and gutters.
Yusuf also advised people of the community against driving into flooded water, touching electrical poles and equipment standing on water.
He added that they must not hesitate to relocate to higher ground before their homes become submerged by floodwaters.
The team which paid a courtesy visit to the Monarch, the Akor of Oko Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Eze Osita, appealed to the king to help NEMA in enlightening his subjects on the intending flooding to mitigate its impact in the area.
Yusuf, however, commended the monarch for his cooperation and support while assuring him of the readiness of the Federal Government to provide relief materials to flood victims in the state.
Responding, the monarch lauded NEMA and the Federal Government for their timely intervention in ameliorating the suffering of internally displaced persons in the country.
He noted that flooding had been a major challenge for the people of the area who are mainly farmers.
“Flooding has now become an annual event in this community and in the last three years, we have not been planting crops that will stay more than a year as a result of flooding,’’ the monarch said.
He called for the dredging of the River Niger which he believed would help in the protection of the shore and reduce flooding in the surrounding communities.
Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) noted that continuous flooding in the area had brought untold hardship to the people.
Mrs. Ngozi Nwabokwu, a Farmer said, ”the constant flooding of our land is bringing hardship and poverty upon us’.’
On her part, Mrs. Nwakaego Udemba, also a Farmer said, ”our major occupation is farming and flooding has been a big challenge to us.
”Because of flooding, we no longer plant crops that get mature enough before harvest and this is making things more difficult for us”. (NAN)
– Aug. 17, 2020 @ 13:55 GMT |
Tags: NEMA begins sensitisation of communities in flood-prone areas of Delta
