Flood sacks over 300 houses in Makurdi

 

Over 300 houses in parts of Makurdi town were Monday morning submerged by flood after a heavy downpour that lasted about 10 hours. 

The rain which started around 2 am also swept away property and valuables of many residents most of whom live in flood prone areas. 

Areas badly affected by the flood included, Achussa, Wadata Rice Mill, Gyado Villa, Wurumum, Ishaya Bakut Way, SBS-UNIAgris Road among others. 

Road users were also stranded along the SBS - UNIAgric Road after the flood submerged some of the culverts on that stretch of road and almost cutting off the university from the rest of the town. 

In the affected communities many residents were seen trying to rescue their property from the flood. 

At the Achussa Community where no less than 80 houses went under water, a resident, Joseph Ikuan who lamented his ordeal appealed to the state government to take steps to save the community from the perennial flooding. 

According to him, "it is now a yearly occurrence for us in Achussa to go through this suffering every year. Just when we thought the matter has been tackled with the drainages that government had provided, we are now faced with this same ugly situation. 

"When the rain started around 2 am we did not know that it will last till about 12 noon. My family and I woke up around 5 am when we noticed that water had entered our house. Though we managed to save some of our properties but several of our belongings were damaged by the flood." 

At the Gyado Villa area of the town where residents who were mostly students of the Benue State University, Makurdi, were seen also trying to rescue their properties from their submerged homes. Many blamed their ordeal on the lack of proper water channels in the community. 

One of the victims, Nguna Yaav appealed to the government to take steps to construct drainages in the community. 

"This situation has persisted over the years because the government has failed to ensure that drainages are constructed in the community. Most of the areas here do not have drainages and water channels so when we have this kind of downpour our homes become flooded. 

Contacted, the Executive Secretary, State Executive Management Agency, SEMA, James Iorpuu, said the agency was fully prepared to respond to the needs of those who may have been affected by flood o  the state. 

He appealed to those living in flood prone areas to relocate noting that "already many residents who live around flood prone areas have relocated to the government designated camps in Wadata and Gboko road."

"As I speak with you, the technical committee on rapid response to flooding set up by Governor Alia, are currently at Wadata and Gaadi camps, and had started distributing food and non food items to affected Victims. 

"Those who have been affected by the recent flooding have been given mattresses and other food items. 

"Today many residents in Wadata and Gboko road areas of Makurdi were affected. Therefore, we are calling on all those living in and around flooding areas to immediately relocate to camps to suffering losses" 

"Like said  earlier the technical team had gone out to access the affected  areas. However, it will difficult to immediately ascertain the exact number of people affected by the yesterday  rain which has caused flood in the state. 

"However, I believe you must had gone out yourself to ascertain the situation before calling our office, so we are still appealing to vacate those areas not safe to stay for now", Sir Iorpuu stated. 

He explained that SEMA in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders have carried out adequate sensitization and awareness campaign across major  local government areas where farmlands and houses always affected during floods.