Flood destroys property in Umuahia
(Nigeria) A heavy downpour in Umuahia and its surrounding villages in
Abia State, on Saturday destroyed many houses and other structures worth
millions of naira.
At some of the affected areas, traders' wares were also
washed off. It was also observed that many people missed Church services as
they were busy sorting out valuables from the debris of collapsed structures.
Mrs Victoria Ijeoma, of 46 Lagos Street, Umuahia, said that
she lost more than N100,000 to the flood that ``swept out everything in the
house’’.
``My room was submerged by the flood; I lost my clothes,
money and other household items. At the moment, I don’t have anything to eat
because the flood carried my pot of soup and the other food items I have in
this house. That is why I did not go to Church today,” she said.
Mrs Chinansa Oluchukwu, a widow and mother of four, said
that she also lost everything in her room, including her children’s school
books and uniforms. `We want the government and other good people to help us
because we have lost our means of livelihood.
``We also want the government to relocate us to a better
place to avoid a repeat of this flood because we don’t have money to help
ourselves. Since I lost my husband, I have tried to raise these children alone,
so this tragedy is a huge a set-back,’’ she said.
Oluchukwu, who attributed the flooding to a poor drainage
system in Umuahia, said that she had initially concluded that the end of the
world had come.
Mr Chukwuma Owunwanne, of 55 Bawas Street, described his
experience as terrible and prayed against a repeat.
He claimed that residents of his compound lost ``more than
N2 million to the flood.''
``We lost everything in our compound to the flood; fridges,
television sets, radio sets, rugs and pots of soup were all swept off.
``The main problem is the lack of drainage. The slab that
covers the drainage must be closed so as to channel the flood to the right
direction,” he said.
Owunwanne appealed to government to look into problems of
drainage system in the city.
A section of the perimeter fence around the
Abia State Health System Management Fund also collapsed on the
building, throwing injection bottles, syringes and other hospital equipment
into a neighbouring Church premise.
Comments
Post a Comment