By Alaba Olusola Oke
THE NATIONAL Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed the death of one person in the Friday’s flood incident in Ondo town, Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The Director-General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, stated this on Tuesday while assessing the level of damage in the ancient city.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that torrential rainfall in Ondo town on Friday led to flash flood, with houses and vehicles submerged.
“This is a big one; we have seen it and this is telling us that we need to do much more in terms of clearing waterways and also avoiding building on the waterways.
“We have seen it and we have done rapid assessment and we will see how we can collaborate with other agencies to see how we can assist further.
“It is very unfortunate that we lost one person. My advice is that people of Ondo should clear their waterways and support the government,” she said.
Umar said that it was worrisome that despite earlier forecasts by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), there could still be victims of flooding.
According to her, there is need to clear waterways and stop hindering free movement of water.
The NEMA DG added that the flood situation was expected to persist until the end of November, asking state and local governments to allocate resources and provide support to communities.
She promised that NEMA would provide necessary assistance and would continue to collaborate with the state government and other stakeholders in restoring normalcy and ensure that people recover from the devastating incident.
The DG earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Deputy Gov. Olayide Adelami and Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo. (NAN)
