Anambra prepares for flood emergencies, intensifies sensitisation campaigns

The Anambra State Government has expressed its preparedness to respond effectively to any flood related emergency by taking precautionary measures across the state to avert any disaster.

The Commissioner for Environment, Dr Felix Odimegwu, made this known in an interview with journalists in Awka, on Saturday, adding that the ministry in collaboration with relevant agencies, has intensify the sensitisation of the people to this year’s rainfall and likely flooding.

This is coming ahead of the three-day rainy weather conditions predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency starting from Saturday to Monday across Nigeria.

Also, fears have gripped residents since last Monday when a heavy downpour caused severe flooding around Zik’s Avenue, Iweka Road, near the popular Ochanja Market in Onitsha, the commercial centre of the state, ravaged some shops and disrupted business activities in the area.

The flood, triggered by several hours of non-stop rainfall and worsened by blocked drainage channels, submerged the entire stretch of Zik’s Avenue, displacing traders and halting commercial operations as well as both vehicular and non-vehicular movements throughout the day.

Videos of the flooding still circulating online showed when traders and residents struggled to salvage goods from flooded shops, while tricycle operators were seen struggling to rescue his vehicles from being swept away by the rising waters.

Reacting to these developments, Odimegwu stated that the campaign and sensitisation was in response to early warnings from NiMET indicating that Anambra was among the states at high risk of flooding during the rainy season.

He said, “After the first six months seasonal prediction by NiMet, we disseminated the information and notified residents, especially those living at the coastal areas about the upcoming rainfall and flooding consequences, and urged the general public to be absolutely careful and prepared for it.

“The state government has consistently sensitises the people to desist from blocking water channels and drainages in and around surroundings of their houses to pave way for easy flow of flooding. The blockage of water drainages is the root cause of man-made flooding.

“What we are doing is that whatever would cause flooding in the urban areas by man, we will try to prevent it. But, if it is the flooding caused by river rising above the sea level, we will give warning to people living in the riverine areas to prepare on how to vacate.”

The Commissioner further said that the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, is equally showing great concerns to flood devastations in the state in the last three years and as a result, has constituted committees headed by the Deputy Governor, Dr Onyekachi Ibezim.

According to him, the committees constitute officials of the ministry of environment, ministry of health, ministry of information, ministry of education, local government chairmen, and State Emergency Management Agency.

“The reason for constituting the committees is for us to start in time to strategise and put measures in place ahead of this year’s flooding in case it occurs. The Committees were formed since 2022 when flood devastated about nine local government areas of the state.

“After that 2022 flood devastation, we vowed that such disaster cannot occur again, but if it eventually happens, the effects will not be as severe as it was in 2022 because of the measures we have put in place.

Now, rains have started, every week I send notice of early warnings to some other stakeholders who are in the standing Committees which local government chairmen are also among them because they have their own local emergency management committees who manage the crisis if it occurs.

“The early warning signs have become important because it will alert to how and when it will rain heavily and provides avenue for them to prepare and be careful whether the rain will cause flooding or not,” he added.

He also pointed out that the weekly early warning alerts will equally help farmers in the riverine areas to harvest their products to avoid being submerged by flood, stressing that the early warning/ signs of rains also helps traders, artisans and civil servants to adjust their movements to avoid being caught up by rain.

The commissioner said, “We will continue posting the early warning signs until we reach the peak of rain season. During this period, we will now embark on manual preventive measure ‘Called Marking’. There is an object that has different coloured edges which we buried in the ground that shows the level of rising water from the sea.

“From the object, when water level reaches the green edge, it indicates that there is no problem, but if it rises from green to yellow edge, it indicates that people should be vigilant and by then, we will tell people to start packing to where we arranged for them. If the water level rises to red edge, then there is great danger. Red edge is a situation where flood begins to carry people and destroy properties.”