Anambra Plans Ahead NiMET Alerted Floods
By Chuka Nnabuife
AMID anticipation of displacement of several rural communities in her waterfronts, Anambra State has began plans to evolve the most appropriate mode of intervention when flooding comes.
The state government began the process through a series of interactive meetings with potential flooding target towns. The sensitisation campaign is focused on people living in the riverine areas with the goal of planning better palliative incentives and relief materials should the crisis of flooding come.
The state, through its Ministry of Special Duties commenced the preparation for flooding intervention activities in serial interactive meetings with people living in some riverine communities.
The 10-day interaction presented opportunity for government to evaluate the impact of previous years’ flooding interventions and to source feedbacks directly from the people mostly affected by the programs held in Ifite-Anam, Mmiata-Anam, Iyiora-Anam and Umuoba-Abaegbu communities.
It also served as sensitisation of the people on upcoming flooding as forecast by Nigeria Hydrological Services and the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMET).
NiMET’s 2024 Annual Flood Outlook shows that parts of 148 Local Government Areas in 31 states of the federation including Anambra State are high flood-risk areas, while parts of 249 LGAs in 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) fall within the moderate flood-risk areas.
Addressing Ifite-Anam community in Anambra West Local Government Area, Commissioner for Special Duties, Beverly Ikpeazu-Nkemdiche represented by the Head of Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry, Mr Emeka Ezeoke said the meeting was to feel the pulse of the real people affected by the flood so that their real needs will be reflected in government’s flood intervention plan.
A community leader, the President-General of Umuoba-Abaegbu, Joseph Anikpeh who spoke on behalf of the people disclosed that the major challenge facing them is that most times government interventions come late after nature has done its havoc. He suggested that planning and implementation should be started early so that the purpose of such interventions would not be lost.
Mr Anikpeh also asked that post-flooding interventions such as the provision of farm inputs should come to them between November and January so they can engage in early farming before the emergence of any flooding. He also called for the provision of enough motor-boats to help in rescue operations and distribution of food items.
Most of the speakers, urged government and their partners to plan for ways to help people who cannot be contained or brought to selected internally displaced people’s (IDP) holding camps and adopt a more democratic means of distributing material interventions to reach the most and really affected persons.
The train of the state government delegation also visited Atani in Ogbaru Local Government Area and Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Areas where the Commissioner and her entourage interacted with residents of the lower-lands of those communities who are also usual victims of ravaging floods
