Prepare for massive floods, Lagos govt warns Lekki-Ajah, Meiran, Ajegunle residents

Prepare for massive floods, Lagos govt warns Lekki-Ajah, Meiran, Ajegunle, other

The Lagos State Government has warned some residents of the state to prepare for massive flooding from this month of September.

This is contained in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services and Water Resources, Lekan Shodeinde.

He gave the affected catchment areas as Alagbole, Meiran, Maidan, Kara, Isheri-Olowora, Agiliti, Owode-Onirin, Owode-Elede, Agboyi I, Agboyi II, Ajegunle, Itowolo, Majidun, Ibeshe, Baiyeku and Lekki-Ajah axis.
Shodeinde said that the alert became necessary in view of persistent heavy rains expected this September.

The heavy downpours are usually associated with the months of September to December every year along Ogun River Basin and other related predictions and warnings from Nigerian Metrological Services (NIMET), Nigeria Hydrological Services (NIHSA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other agencies.

According to him,  the utmost concern of the state government is safety of lives and properties of residents.

He urged residents and property owners in the listed areas to be ready to move upland when the water level rises showing signs of flooding.

He said comparatively the total amount of rainfall recorded from January to August 2023 (1,128.6mm) is higher than that of January to August of the year 2021 (713.4mm) & 2022 (848.1mm).

The permanent secretary said comparatively, a total of 968.6mm was recorded as amount of rainfall for the 12 months of 2021, just as a total of 1,140mm was the recorded amount of rainfall during the 12 months of 2022.

In the first eight months of 2023, a quantum of 1,128.6mm has already been recorded which means when the remaining four months in the year is factored in’, a very high intensity of rainfall would be recorded for the whole year.
“When some of the other figures released by the Ogun-Osun River Basin Authority is further scrutinized for volume of water spilled, it shows that for the 12 months of 2021, 1,102mcm was spilled, while for the 12 months of 2022, a total of 1,475.6 mcm was spilled,” he stated.

The Permanent Secretary opined that the water levels of all tributaries including the Oyan Dam are rising and is one of the contributory factors to the possibility of the likely flooding at downstream flow of Ogun River.