Anambra state Management Emergency Agency (SEMA) alongside Local Emergency Management Committee has carried out sensitisation campaigns to flood-prone communities to prepare them for impending flooding in the state.
The sensitisation was necessitated following the 2020 flood predictions by Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) and the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) as the state had been listed among states of the federation to witness flooding menace.
The exercise was carried out in Ayamelum, Anambra East and West, Onitsha North and South, Ihiala, Ogbaru and Awka North Local Government Areas.
Executive Secretary, SEMA, represented by a Director in the Agency, Mr Chukwudi Onyejekwu, urged communities living along river banks to get ready to move to designated Holding Centres.
Mr Onyejekwu, cautioned people to desist from acts that could lead to blocking of water channels or building on flood natural course as well as dumping refuse in drainages.
He noted that flooding could submerge lands that were usually dry when rivers overflow their banks, and can overflow beyond their capacities and become disastrous if channels are blocked.
Coordinator, Local Emergency Management Committee, Mr Nnamdi Esimia, noted that they moved within communities to ensure that emergency cases were attended to, by promptly reporting to state and federal agencies for rescue.
He explained that the committee engaged in different activities such as sharing of fliers during town hall meetings, markets and motor parks as a way of educating the rural dwellers on appropriate response.
Residents of Anambra East and West LGAs while thanking SEMA for their timely directives, appealed to the Government to always provide inputs to farmers early enough to enable them to plant and harvest before the coming of the floodwaters.
The teams that carried out the sensitisation exercise include SEMA Officials, Members of Red Cross, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
