33 Imo communities submerged by flood, thousands displaced

No fewer than 33 communities in Imo State have been submerged by flood occasioned by two adjoining rivers overflowing their bounds due to torrential downpours.

According to the Imo State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), thousands of residents have also been displaced by the flood in the affected communities in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of the state as their houses were destroyed, rendering them homeless.

The traditional ruler of one of the affected communities, Ikeji Bright, who spoke to journalists on Monday during a tour of the communities in the company of the state SEMA Coordinator, Obinna Ariaga, and officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said his people’s source of livelihoods had been taken away from them as their farmlands had been destroyed.

READ ALSO: Buhari meets governors on flood, promises intervention

He said the flood had led to the loss of farmlands, plantations and fishing ports in the communities, adding, that the communities affected by the flood were now using boats to evacuate people and property from their houses to dry land.

“The government should assist us. We need urgent assistance such as food items, clothing, mosquito nets and other relief materials.

“We need government intervention as soon as possible. Our governor should find a lasting solution to the flood by ensuring that Oguta Lake and Urashi River are dredged as he disclosed recently, and also dredge the two rivers in this area,” the monarch said.

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