No fewer than 15 communities in Oguta Local Government Area, Imo State, has been sacked due to the flood caused by overflowing Oguta Blue Lake.
This was caused by the heavy rains the communities experienced in the past days.
This has caused a lot of families losses as farmlands and personal belongings worth several millions of naira have been damaged after the river bank overflowed.
Buildings, including hotels, were also submerged leaving occupants with no option than to have vacate them.
A large per cent of residents at Amaraocha in Oguta LGA have abandoned their homes to seek shelter in safer environments while some people were seen trying to salvage what remained of their personal belongings.
Some of the fleeing residents lamented that many of them could not save their property as they were taken unawares by the ravaging flood.
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One of the victims, Eugene Nworlu, said, “My children and I were sleeping when suddenly all our mattresses were soaked by the flood.
“When I woke up, I saw our beds and other properties floating on water.”
He called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the state government and the federal government to come to the aid of the people.
Reacting to the incident, the Head of Imo/Abia Operations Office of NEMA, Ifeanyi Nnaji, said the agency had visited about 12 communities affected by the flood.
He however said that the agency had earlier carried out community awareness campaigns about impending flooding that might arise from sudden overflowing of the lake.
“Suddenly, the flood is already on the ground. I was there last Friday to assess the extent of damage and my advice to the communities was for them to vacate the areas.”
Oguta is the country home of the late maverick politician Senator Arthur Nzeribe.