Showers of sorrow

owerri citizens matter losses following ravaging flood

from george onyejiuwa, owerri

owerri, the imo kingdom capital became within the news again final week, as most elements of the metropolis had been submerged following a downpour that lasted for over 12 hours. it became, indeed, the worst flooding that has been witnessed inside the state capital nowadays as many citizens had been sacked from their houses. even perimeter fences of a few homes collapsed below the strain of the raging flood. it did now not spare the bishop’s court, the legit residence of the anglican bishop of egbu diocese. it equally sacked college students of the federal government ladies university, owerri, located alongside okigwe road.

worst hit areas have been the federal housing at trans-egbu, works layout, new owerri, global financial institution vicinity and orji, amakaohia, akwakuma and umuguma housing estate, where loads of families had been dislodged from their houses.

additionally, principal roads in the metropolis were taken over via the flood. motorists who ventured out had their motors stuck in the flood.

oriental news determined that many residents of the affected areas have been trapped in their compounds. a number of them battled to eliminate their valuables at the same time as folks that were going to paintings had to ‘swim’.

obinna akuwudike who lives at the federal housing property, trans-egbu, stated the flooding on that fateful thursday was the worst they’d experienced inside the past 5 years, as his residence and 20 others together with their automobiles have been submerged.

he stated the hassle of flooding in the area commenced 5 years ago, however that it worsened two years ago when the state government’s contractors blocked the principle drainage channel at chukwuma nwoha road.

his phrases: “about 20 homes had been submerged on this property with a whole lot of people losing their belongings to the flood due to the heavy rain which started out overdue wednesday night to about 10:00 a.m; thursday morning. in the remaining five years we had been combating with the hassle of flooding inside the estate due to lack of drainage, however the trouble changed into compounded in the remaining two years whilst some contractors working for the kingdom government blocked the drainage at chukwuma nwoha and as a result every time it rains heavily the estate is flooded. we’ve got complained severally to the authorities about it, however not anything has been achieved.”

similarly, mr frank egenonu, a journalist, who is a resident of avenue 6 on the federal housing estate, egbu  and a victim of the disaster, instructed oriental information that the flood has destroyed all his assets, including knocking down the walls of his kitchen, toilet and elements of the fence.

he stated that because of the pressure with which the flood located its manner into his compound, it become difficult for him to store any of his property.

in step with him, the catastrophe started out round middle of the night on wednesday via the early hours of thursday.

he talked about that due to the ever-growing water level, lots of them climbed the fence of their compounds to keep away from being drowned or electrocuted as lots of their electronic devices like television, stabilizer and handsets were already linked to power as at the time the incident occurred.

he blamed the flooding on the blocked drainage device in the capital as a result of avenue enlargement paintings being finished by way of the state government, noting that if the manholes which might be imagined to drain the floods and channel them to both the nworie or otamiri rivers had been now not blocked that the hassle of the regular flood might now not were ordinary.

“the principle cause we’ve got persevered to have constant flooding within the state capital and its environs is due to the fact most of the drainages had been blocked because of the street expansion embarked upon through the kingdom authorities and to make topics worse the only which is meant to update them isn’t capable of face up to the pressure of the flood as it has collapsed because of the strain of the raging flood. at the give up, it’s far the individuals who go through the destructive impact. and if nothing is carried out the problem of flooding becomes worse within the coming years due to the fact as you realize owerri is in a valley,” he defined.

also it turned into the identical tale of woes for eberechi omawumi, a student of alvan ikoku federal university of education, who lives in amakaohia, as she lamented that the flood which became caused by heavy rains did no longer handiest sack her and her roommates from their residence, however also damaged all their assets, which include their textbooks.

“considering the fact that i came to owerri, i have never experienced this type of flooding as it destroyed the entirety inside the residence in which i and my roommates rented. we couldn’t salvage something from our rooms, such as our books and other valuables due to the fact our compound became completely overtaken by using the flood. so, absolutely everyone were jogging out of the compound because of the pressure of the flood as if a dam had burst open,” she said.

additionally, buyers in the umuguma axis of the state capital who deal in electronics are nonetheless counting their losses because the flood had destroyed all their wares of their lock-up stores.

one of the traders, nwabueze uche, told oriental information that the flood has rendered him vain and and submerged his keep.

“the flood of thursday has ruined me and positioned me out of enterprise because my shop changed into flooded and all my goods that are electronics destroyed; and, of course, you recognize that water and electronics are not pals,” he lamented,

while calling on the country and federal governments to return to their useful resource, the residents entreated governor rochas okorocha to reopen all of the manholes that have been presupposed to drain water inside the state each time it rained to forestall destiny incidence.