Over 200,000 persons have been rendered homeless while properties including houses and farmlands are destroyed by flood in four local government areas of Rivers State.
The local government areas are Ahoada West, Ahoada East, Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas.
Sources within the four local government areas informed The Tide that all the coastal communities especially in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas respectively are under water.
The source further revealed that most of these communities are located in Engenni District of Ahoada West Local Government Area, Ndoni district and Egi kingdom of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas.
According to the source, coastal communities which are under water in Ahoada West Local Governemnt Area are Akinima, the council headquarters, Joinkrama I and II, Ikodi, Akianiso, Igovia, Ususu, Isua, Odau and Edagberi, while in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, all the seven communities in Ndoni District which are Asi Azaga, Isukwa, Otikiri Agwe and Ndoni Main town, in Egi Kingdom. The following communities also affected are: Idu Osobile, Kregeni, Obobouru and others.
Sources revealed that some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are already overstretched with the number of internally displaced persons occupying them.
The Tide also leant that some residents are living in makeshift structures as well as engaging in premature harvesting of crops.
According to the source, some of the residents particularly in Mbiama/Ndoni and Akinima now cook outside and sleep on scaffold materials.
An internally displaced person who stays in one of the camps told The Tide via telephone that the camps are in dire need of mosquitoes nets, food items and potable water.
He stressed the need for the government to come to the aid of communities in the area.
A resident of Idu Osobile commuity, Ejeukwu Joezah told The Tide that his people now sleep on roof tops.
He said people now move round the community with the aid of canoes.
Also speaking, the Eze Egi of Ogbaland, HRM Professor Anele Uzondu Wokoma, called for supports to flood ravaged communities in the area.
Also, an IDP in one of the camps, in Ahoada West, Mr. Ogbam Orugba, told The Tide in an interview that he has lost all his farmlands to the flood. “I have lost everything to the flood. All my farmlands including houses are all under water,” he said.
He stressed the need for the government and public spirited individuals to come to the aide of the people.
Another indigene of the area, silver Oku, said most residents of the affected communities have relocated to communities not affected by the incident.
Oku, who hails from Mbiama claimed that most villagers particularly in Mbiama are living in make shift structures, while some schools writing the National Examination Council (NECO) examination are also relocating to higher grounds to continue the examination.
“I can confirm to you that the flood has brought hardship to many people. We cook along the road in Mbiama and sleep on top of scaffold materials,” he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Better Jack Miller, said the women are the worst affected in the incident because they lost all their cassava farms to flood.
“The women are the worst affected because the cassava farms they managed to plant is no more there.
“Infact, people are packing from their homes both women and men,” she said.
She also called on the government to come to the aid of the people of the area.
Meanwhile, the Engenni eminent persons forum, a non-governmental organisation, has lamented the level of destructions caused by perennial flooding in the area.
Chairman of the forum, Dr. Harvey Warman, said the perennial flooding in Engenni kingdom is causing untold hardship to the people.
Warman, however, regretted the lack of support to the people by agencies in charge of disaster management in the country, stressing that despite the billions being voted by both the state and federal government for disaster management in the country, Engennis have not benefitted from it.
According to the elder- statesman, Engenni, which produces 30 per cent of the country’s revenue, is being neglected by successive governments in the country.
Warman, who called on the local, the state and federal governments as well as the Redcross Society to come to the aide of the people, also advised the affected communities to remain resilient assuring that the group would continue to create awareness on their plight.
Meanwhile, the Onueze of Ndoni kingdom, Chief John Ugboma Obi, has likened the current flooding to that of 2012.
He told The Tide that the entire Ndoni kingdom has been submerged by flood.
He also said the road linking the kingdom to the rest of the country has been cut off by water.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has described the incident as one of the worst.
NEMA South South coordinator, Mr Brandon Walson, told The Tide via a telephone interview that roads to most of the affected communities have been cut off by the water.
He also confirmed several destructions caused by the flood.
“I can confirm to you that all the coastal communities especially in two local government areas are under water.
“During our visit to the area, I saw plantain farms destroyed, yam farms destroyed, cassava farms and even okoro farms are all under water.
He said the agency has written to its headquarters for the supply of relief materials for the affected persons and communities.
Walson also told The Tide that they were awaiting response from the chairmen of the four affected local government areas for further assessment of the communities.