A devastating flood has taken over some major roads and streets in the Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State, following a torrential rainfall.
The flood, it was gathered, wreaked havoc as the rainfall continued on Friday, disrupting economic activities as people were unable to connect their various destinations in the town.
Major roads in the ancient town, such as: Erinje area, Ogungbo junction, and Ode Etikan, which had no drainage, were reportedly affected by the flood.
The situation was also not different from some parts of Ereke, Ayetitun, and Temidire area, which were partly submerged, creating traffic gridlocks across the town’s commercial nerve centre.
It was gathered the flood also hit the major road leading to the residence of the chairman of the local government, Andrew Ogunsakin.
A legal practitioner and resident of Okitipupa, Barrister Wale Omolegbon Odusola, shared the devastated flooding and conditions of the roads in a two-seconds video on social media.\xa0
But some residents, who spoke to The Nation, attributed the flooding to the blockage of waterways and refusal to construct proper drainage system on the roads.
One of the residents, Adeleye Ibukun, explained that his residence has been submerged by the flood, lamenting that the situation has hindered him from assessing his compound.
According to Ibukun, the flood was due to improper channelling of flood water that led to blockage and building on drainage right of ways in the town.
“It’s devastating as i speak with you. The whole place is flooded. We can’t even access the roads. Everywhere is full of water, and people cannot pass through to their house.
“The problem is a result of improper channelling of water drainage system on the major street. Most of the houses were constructed without drainage. It’s sad right now,” he said.
Another resident, Seyi Awoyemi Ige, also lamented that his house was submerged by water, noting that the development was a result of the lack of a functional drainage system in the new housing site.
He called on the Ondo State government to rescue the residents of the town before things got out of hand.
“I can’t access my house. Even those who have cars are stranded due to the flood. I have to rely on commercial motorcycles because the road leading to my house is currently cut off from the major road due to the flood.
“We are begging the government to come to our rescue. I live in a new site where there is no drainage, which makes the water run into residential homes, rendering us homeless,” Ige added.
The LG chairman, Ogunsakin confirmed the flooding incident when contacted.
“The secretary of the local government has visited the affected areas and we already making intervention,” he told our reporter.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) had predicted a heavy rainfall and strong winds in Ondo and 30 other states.
However, the natural disaster came amid effort by the State Government to avert another cycle of flood-related destruction in major cities of the state.
Last week, the State gyovernment began the clearing of waterways and cracking down on illegal structures blocking natural water channels across the state.
Kjnga Olumide, the administrative secretary, Ministry of Environment in the state had disclosed that three amphibious excavators have been deployed to critical flood-prone zones both in the northern, central and southern senatorial districts as part of the state’s emergency flood response.
“The excavators, now actively working and our mandate is clear, these machines must run concurrently to ease water flow and stop erosion from wreaking havoc,” he said.
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