Flood submerges 4 communities, renders 400 homeless in Cross River

Judex Okoro, Calabar

Flood, yesterday, destroyed over 200 houses and displaced no fewer than 400 persons in the Calabar metropolis,  Cross River State.

Some of the major areas affected included Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) staff quarters, Mayne Avenue, all in Calabar South, Ikot-Uduak, Akai- Effa and Etap Ayip community in Calabar municipality.

The ravaging flood, which occurred following a two-day downpour on Wednesday and early hours of yesterday, did not only destroy valuable household items worth several millions of naira, it also sacked residents from their houses and rendered them homeless.

When Daily Sun visited some of the affected communities, the residents were seen trying to salvage some of the household items while the children and the elderly trapped in the flood were being evacuated to nearby homes, not severely affected.

Some of the affected victims told Daily Sun that flooding has been a perennial incidence, stressing that though they had appealed to government through letters to come to their rescue, there was no quick intervention.

At CRUTECH, some residents in the quarters could not be rescued due to the intensity of the rain and the flood, which submerged houses.

A resident, John Idong, said: “We are stuck and you can see we are trying to scoop water from our rooms just to find a way out of the quarter. We only pray we would not be attacked by dangerous animals that usually come with the down pour.

“Once again, we plead with the government to come to our rescue as we have suffered for over 10 years and have lost valuables to flood. Maybe until we are all wiped out then the government would set up a task force.”

Also decrying the situation, the Clan Head, Kasuk II Qua Clan, Ntoe Ededem Ayito, said: “My subjects have lost property worth millions including cars during such heavy rains.

“The first time we experienced such was in 2012 when they started the Jonathan By-Pass. Because of the ring culvert they used, the water from Effio-Ette and MCC all flow to this axis because the current of the water is high, the ring-culvert cannot contain it.

“Whenever the rain is heavy, all the communities along that line and channeled are submerged. I have lost furniture more than three times because of this and a car in the last two years because water entered the engine and it was beyond repairs.

“We are appealing to the Cross River government to help us, they should build a bigger culvert or construct a small bridge along the road so that water can flow freely into the river, a lot of people are suffering as a result of this ugly menace.”