Severe flooding has hit Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Southeast Nigeria , destroying homes, farmlands, properties, and displacing several residents.
On Wednesday, reports indicated that Ogbaru is a flood-prone community in Anambra, which has continually suffered devastation in recent years.
The flooding followed persistent rainfall that caused a rise in the water level of the River Niger.
Some residents were seen wading through the waters, while houses, farmlands, and private and public facilities were submerged.
According to news reports, residents now paddle wooden canoes to their destinations, as the roads in the area have been submerged.
When contacted, the Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Paul Odenigbo, disclosed that all residents in water-prone areas had been well sensitised about the impending flood expected this year.
Odenigbo said that the state government had prepared a haven for those who would be affected by flooding, adding that personnel were on the ground to evacuate affected residents when the floods became unbearable.
He noted that this was the early stage and that the water would continue to rise daily.
“All water-prone areas in Anambra were well sensitised about the flood situation. They are not taken unaware, and the agency is preparing its staff who work in the field to mitigate the flooding.
“They are also getting the holding centres ready by preparing them, fumigating them, and making them ready for occupation by people who are going to be affected by the flood. It’s a normal thing at this stage,” he said.
When asked if the people would not be adamant about evacuating to a haven, he explained that such resistance could happen with some residents, as the agency experiences it yearly.
“The high water is not a new thing to them. They have been living with it year in, year out. It’s not the way you are seeing it; the way they see it is different. When you tell them to go, they just laugh at you because, to them, nothing has happened.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the Anambra Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Felix Odumegwu, failed as he did not pick his phone calls nor respond to the text messages sent to his phone.