Ogun State Government, on Tuesday urged residents on wetland areas to relocate to safer ground before the rain commences fully.
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| Emblem of Ogun State Government (OGSG). Photo: @OGSG_Official |
The rain according to the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) would commence from March and end in December, 2024 with an average rainy period of two hundred and thirty-nine days (239) and an average precipitation of 1786.5mm, affecting sixteen out of the twenty local government areas of the state.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Ola Oresanya, who made this known during the year 2024 Ogun State Flood Alert in conjunction with the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority (OORBDA) held at the Olusegun Osoba Press Center, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, also said that local government areas such as Imeko-Afon, Odeda, Abeokuta North and Abeokuta South would experience the lowest rainfall.
The commissioner, while noting that people who are located in the hilly areas are going to experience erosion as a result of the speed of the water, called for calm as the state government is putting measures in place to cushion the effects of the expected heavy rainfall.
“It is either you relocate from the area or you elevate; may be you want to reconstruct your house or do some kind of elevation if you must stay in that area. Every year, we talk about relocation. It is not easy to relocate. If you must leave in those areas, make sure that your electronics, your chairs, whatever can be damaged is being elevated.
“When we talk about relocation and elevation, it is going to be predominantly around this area. People leaving within the wetland of the state are supposed to prepare for this increase in the height of the water because we are going to have a retention of this lockdown around this period.
“So, people who are located in the hill areas are going to have some kind of erosion because of the speed the water will take in running down around the Ilaro area and some areas in Ota. We are going to have what we call erosion that is going to accompany this kind of flooding for the year.
“The other areas that we will have the impact which is later on are people that are leaving within the wetland of the state and the wetland area are predominantly Southern parts of the state and this are almost flat land, low line land because this are the border towns between Lagos and Ogun State,” he said.
