Flood sacks homes, churches in Rivers 

• We’ll tackle flooding headlong –Wike

From Tony John, Port Harcourt

Scores of  homes and churches in Rumuolumeni community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, have been sacked by flood.
The flood, which resulted from a downpour on Saturday and yesterday, also destroyed property worth millions of naira.
Daily Sun gathered yesterday, that several churches could not hold service, within the area due to the heavy flood that has taken over the community.
Residents had attributed the incident to lack of drainage system in the area.
They lamented that several property belonging to churches and residents of the area were destroyed, following the heavy rainfall, which has persisted, even as at the time of filing this report.
A landlord in the area, identified as Benibo, blamed a construction company that handled the Rumuolumeni road project for the flood disaster.
He said the company did not construct good drainage to flank the newly built road in the area, pointing out that the water became too heavy for the gutters to carry.
According to Benibo, residents of the area had severally approached the company and complained about the poor drainage system that channels water into a canal in the area.
He also noted that there was a blockade in the drainage that obstructed free flow of water, thereby causing the flood.
Benibo said: “We have been rendered homeless because of flood, my family slept inside a church far from this place, while I slept inside my car.
“Even, one of my neighbours has not been seen since last night. We saw him parking his property and at that time, his family moved to another place, nobody knows what has happened to him now.
Meanwhile, Governor Wike yesterday assured residents of Port Harcourt and other flooded communities that his administration will tackle the environmental challenge headlong.
He empathised with residents affected by the flooding, assuring that his administration will work with relevant agencies to resolve the issues thrown up by the flooding.
Speaking after he inspected some areas impacted by flooding, Wike directed the relevant government agencies to take immediate remedial measures.
The governor inspected the flooded areas in Port Harcourt with Julius Berger engineers and officials of the state Ministry of Works.
He directed the continuous de-silting of all major canals in the  town.
Governor Wike advised Port Harcourt residents to stop dumping refuse in water channels. He said such actions lead to blockage of water channels, which leads to flooding.
The governor  stressed that he will take some tough steps to ensure that the state will not experience such devastating flooding again.