LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT REFUNDS 145 FORMER SUBSCRIBERS OF EGAN HOUSING ESTATE
admin By Oyebola Owolabi
Residents of Lagos have been urged to prepare for imminent flash flooding following the intensity of rain exprieced last week Wednesday and Thursday.
Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources Tokunbo Wahab, in a statement, described the rainfall as the ‘heaviest’ in many months.
Wahab explained that coupled with the release of water from the Oyan Dam, the channels can no longer discharge into the rivers.
It reads: “The intensity of the rainfalls between Wednesday and Thursday has led to the levels of the major rivers rising, thus making it difficult for the major drainage channels to discharge until it goes down which is just happening gradually.
“This latest flash flood advisory is necessary because various data gathered from the weather monitoring stations in the state showed that Thursday’s average and maximum values was the highest so far this year.
“In the past few weeks, the overall conditions observed show there’s a drastic increase in water level at our four gauge stations within the state, and knowing fully well that Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority is releasing water from two gates of the Oyan Dam as announced earlier.
“A few days ago, at Kara (calibrated), the water level recorded 2.2m, and which most likely might hit the threshold any time soon. At Isheri-North GRA, the water level recorded 20.015m which is above the flood threshold. These show that the catchment areas along these axes are already experiencing river flooding.
“At Majidun, in the whole year, the peak water level was recorded on October 14 at 1.466m, while the minimum value was at 0.538m. At Falomo, with the incessant rainfall coupled with water releases from OORBDA, both upstream and downstream of Lagos State will definitely experience flooding along the corridors.”
Wahab therefore reiterated the need for people living in low lying areas and the banks of the Ogun River to put their safety first by moving upland to prevent avoidable loss of lives and properties because the state will still experience more rainfalls this month.
