Floods, mudslides render 347 homeless in C’River

No fewer than 347 persons have been displaced by floods and mudslides that ravaged several communities in Cross River State, leaving a trail of destruction.

The Director-General of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Efa Nyong, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists in Calabar, the state capital.

Nyong said 167 persons were rendered homeless by a mudslide in Calabar, while another 180 were displaced following heavy rainfall in the Central Senatorial District.

He said the affected persons were currently being sheltered at various locations in Calabar and parts of the Central Senatorial District.

He stated, “About 347 persons have been displaced after mudslides and floods ravaged various communities in the state. From our assessment, 167 persons were rendered homeless by a mudslide in Calabar, while 180 others were displaced in the Central Senatorial District.”

The SEMA boss, who assumed office on July 14, attributed the disasters to natural occurrences and human activities.

“Basically, two things are happening. They are happening out of natural occurrence and, secondly, out of human activity. That is all that is happening currently in the state as regards disasters,” he said.

Nyong said he had visited communities in the Southern and Central Senatorial Districts to sensitise residents on disaster prevention, adding that the campaign would soon be extended to the Northern Senatorial District.

He said the agency would subsequently embark on a statewide advocacy campaign using billboards, radio jingles and town criers.

The SEMA DG identified indiscriminate dumping of refuse as a major cause of flooding, warning that the consequences could be felt several kilometres away from where waste was dumped.

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“When people throw waste indiscriminately, it may not show its impact immediately where it is dumped. Its impact could be a couple of kilometres away from where the activity was carried out,” he explained.

On fire outbreaks, Nyong urged residents to switch off electrical appliances when not in use, promptly replace faulty cables and bulbs, and upgrade electrical wiring where necessary.

Explaining the agency’s response structure, he said the Local Emergency Management Committee, coordinated by the vice-chairman of each local government area, serves as the first responder to disasters.

He said incidents beyond the capacity of the local committees were escalated to SEMA, and subsequently to the National Emergency Management Agency where necessary.

“Where we cannot manage it at the level of the state, we push it further to NEMA. When they cannot manage it at that level, we begin to seek international assistance,” he said.

Nyong identified the Nigerian Red Cross Society as one of the agency’s key partners in providing shelter for displaced persons.

He said it was difficult to put a monetary value on the damage caused by the disasters because of fluctuations in the value of the naira.

“We cannot quantify it because if you want to bring it back to what it was, we don’t know the current state of the naira,” he said.

He added that the agency had received relief materials and financial assistance from government and private donors as efforts continued to stabilise and resettle the affected persons.