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Garden City massively flooded, sending traders, motorists grieving months before wet season sets in
From Obed Mpiegbulam, Port Harcourt
In the past three years, residents and traders at the popular Mile 1 Market have been having a nightmare. Whenever it rained torrentially, they would be subjected to severe pain, as roads in the area were usually flooded and impassable. Businesses were also either grounded or disrupted. This has been the norm for three years.
The latest rain in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, was so heavy that it caused massive flooding in Mile 3 and Mile 1 areas.
While the rain lasted, the entire area was so taken over by floodwater. All the streets in Mile 3, Ikwerre Road and areas around Mile 1 Market were badly affected. The incident exposed the faults in the roads constructed in the areas.
Daily Sun gathered that after a section of the market was burnt some years ago, the drainage channel from Afikpo Street through the market to the railway line was blocked. This development, many believe, has been responsible to the severe flooding in the area.
Another cause of the problem was the presence of large volumes of plastic bottles, cans and “sachet water” polythene bags, which blocked drainage channels. Residents litter the streets of Diobu indiscriminately with the materials. And when it rains, they are swept into the gutters; they subsequently impede the free flood of rainwater through the drainage channels.
Most motorists plying the area were badly hit by the flooding such that their vehicles were literally swimming in the flood. Some of the vehicles got stuck in the water due to engine breakdown.
But the petty traders in the area were resilient; they were observed in the flood enduring the situation, hustling to make some quick cash to get by.
For pedestrians, it was a rather difficult time as some of them were seen wading through the stinking, murky waters.
The latest flooding incident happened even as the government of Rivers State, under the watch of Governor Nyesom Wike, had been opening up blocked drainages to allow free flow of wastewater in the gutters. Residents said only the involvement of a giant construction company could remedy the situation and redeem the image of the Garden City before the onset of the rainy season.
Meanwhile the Commissioner for Works, Mr. Harrison Bathuel, has called on the residents of Diobu to desist from throwing refuse into the gutters as the act was capable of causing immense havoc. He disclosed that the state government had contacted the contractor that built the road to clean up the drainages to pave way for easy flow of flood waters.
He expressed happiness that Port Harcourt was blessed with natural drainages like the Ntawogba Creek through which the flood could drain without hassles.
A resident, Ekine Ibiso, a surveyor, advised the contractor to open all the blocked drainage channels for the flood to flow out more easily. He also called on the contractor to cover the main channels to prevent refuse getting into them. He further advised that Diamond Bank Street up to Emenike Street junction should be dualised and more, deeper gutters provided to absorb more wastewater. He regretted that the existing facilities were too small to absorb the volume of flood arriving from the adjoining streets, Mile 1 and Mile 3 areas.
Some of the traders, speaking through Daily Sun, appealed to the state government to take the flooding incident as a disaster and initiate greater action before the rainy season sets in. They said that what had happened showed that residents of the area might be in for a rough time when the rainy season begins in earnest in a couple of months.
A trader, who identified himself as Tamuno, said: “With what you have seen now, when the real heavy rain starts, you will pity us who have shops in this shopping plaza. We are calling on Governor Wike, “Mr. Project,” to fast-track the building of the second phase of the market whose foundation stone has ben laid. He is our governor and we trust him.
Another resident, Igolima Angala, a retired civil servant, said: “It is surprising to observe that, instead of flood from all the streets in Mile 3 and Mile1 to flow into the drainages, it burst onto the road. The worst hit is the Mile 1 Market, where we buy our food items.”
He also appealed to government to engage a reputable contractor to channel the flood into Ntawogba Creek to prevent further havoc.
