It was weeping and groaning in some parts of Lagos, including Lekki, Ajah, Victoria Garden City, Victoria Island and Lagos Island as rampaging floods which sacked thousands of residents, destroying properties worth billions of naira following unending heavy frequent downpour.
The state had been witnessing torrential rains for almost the whole of last week which affected movements in the metropolis as well as paralyse social and economic activities.
The Lagos State government over the weekend called for caution among the residents, as the rain which also disrupted flight schedules of several airlines and paralysed weekend social activities, might continue for some time.
The flood, which took over people’s houses, invaded their living rooms, bedrooms and kitchen, even as the roads were rendered impassable, making vehicular movement impossible.
The flood locked down the areas due to the overnight torrential rains which started at roughly 11pm on Friday night and continued most part of Saturday. The rain, it would be recalled, had been falling in the past few days, but continued unabated on Saturday.
Investigations revealed that the flood was caused by lack of good drainages, even as a lot of house owners did not comply with town regulations. However, no lives were reportedly lost.
Independent learnt that from Lekki Phase 1, down to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, was partially submerged by flood, a situation which made people to be stranded, even as broken down vehicles were everywhere in the water.
Residents of Lekki Phase 1, Victoria Island in Lagos State were trapped in their homes as the flood could not allow them move out, thereby hindering weekend life, entertainment and shopping in the areas. Some who intended to travel out of the city for the weekend could not find their way out of their premises.
A commentator on social media, who identified himself just as #Abdulrahman, said: “I think Lagos should declare state of emergency on this flood…. This is not Lekki this is heart of VI. This place never witnessed such…”
Stories of the flooding filled the social media on Saturday, with Lagosians leaving within these areas uploading pictures and videos on the effect of flooding.
As a result of this, Lekki is the number one trend on Twitter presently. Also, Island, which stands for Lagos Island is also trending on the micro-blogging site.
A Twitter user by the name of Amechi Isiekwena took a shot of his living room submerged in water. He pleaded to the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to do something about the floods in Lagos.
The rains also disrupted many flights, particularly international flights that were diverted to neighbouring countries, as the entire tarmac of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport was flooded.
Some parents, who were at the airport on Saturday to receive their wards coming into the country, were disappointed as the Virgin Airline was diverted to Accra, Ghana, due to the flooding of the airport.
Independent gathered that when over 200 parents who were at the airport to receive their wards, leant that the airline had been diverted to Accra, became agitated, especially as the children were not allowed to step out of the plane because they do not have yellow cards and visa.
The situation was more worrisome as the plane could not fly to Lagos until 11 hours owing to the fact that time shift for the crew has expired.
Independent learnt that many parents who could not wait longer, started buying tickets to pick their children, who were forced to stay in their plane pending when it would be cleared to fly back to Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has called for caution by residents as the rain would likely continue for some time.
Speaking through a statement on the government’s official Facebook page, the state government said: “The Lagos State government has once again called on residents to observe extreme caution on the roads as torrential rain persists across the state.
“While assuring the general public of the heavy deployment of environmental sanitation officers and emergency rescue teams, especially in flood-prone areas of the state, the government urges residents to stay indoors, either at home or in their places of work, whenever there is heavy downpour, except when the need to commute becomes necessary.
“Warning that heavy downpour is expected for a few more weeks, the government solicits the support of citizens to desist from dumping refuse in the canals and gutters and observe safe and hygienic conducts at all times in order to reduce the effect of temporary flooding being recorded in some areas. The government also urges residents to make use of emergency numbers in case of dire situations.”
Dr. Samuel Adejare, the State Commissioner for the Environment, also in a release on Saturday, noted that the rainfall would disrupt normal activities and have untoward effects on landed properties, roads and environment.
He implored all Lagosians to, as much as possible, stay indoors during rainfall, except their movement is important to their safety and livelihood.
Adejare also advised residents who live in lowland areas, or those close to water bodies to move upland in the meantime to ensure the safety of their lives and properties.
“You are implored as much as possible to stay indoors unless it is essential to your safety and livelihood. However we strongly advise those who live in lowland and close to water bodies to move upland”, he said.
He added that officers from the ministry had been deployed to coastal areas and sites which are susceptible to flooding as part of efforts to protect the lives and properties of the citizenry.
While pledging the preparedness of the present administration to ensuring the well-being and comfort of all citizens, Adejare implored Lagosians to call the free toll lines of 112 or 767 for necessary assistance in case of emergency
