Floods have hit most parts of Makurdi, the Benue Capital, and rendered hundreds of the residents temporarily homeless.

A correspondent who went around Makurdi on Sunday reports that worst hit areas included Achussah, Jerome Hwande Street, Ankpa Quarters extension, Ankpa ward by Demekpe, and Living Faith Church, Naka Road, behind Customary Court of Appeal.

Others are Gboko Road, JS Tarka University of Agriculture Road, Nyiman Village, Wurukum roundabout, Logo1 Akpehe village, Ide village and Kasho village.

The disaster rendered hundreds within the state capital homeless and also resulted in huge property loss.

Over the last decade, flooding has become a yearly routine, destroying properties and causing loss of lives in some cases.

These areas were among the worst hit areas of the 2017 flooding that displaced over 120,000 persons in the Benue capital, while in 2022, over 14 councils were affected.

Makurdi residents mostly experience challenges of flooding whenever there is rainfall, largely due to a lack of proper and adequate drainage system and not always due to the overflow of River Benue.

At Agber village, Hope Igbawua told journalists that the situation was beyond their control, adding that the residents have reported the matter to relevant authorities over the years without a positive response.

Ms Igbawua said that, as a community, they couldn’t do much, as the situation required hundreds of millions to be addressed.

“Our problem here is not the overflow of water from River Benue but the lack of proper and adequate drainage to collect water to the main drainage that was constructed by the federal government.

“The situation we face here is almost similar to many people in Makurdi. Not all of us are affected by the overflow of River Benue. We need drains,” she said.

The executive secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), James Iorpuu, said they were already mapping out areas and households affected by the flood for immediate intervention.

Mr Iorpuu said SEMA had carried out massive advocacy on floods and appealed to those living in flood-prone areas to evacuate to safer areas.

On his part, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Ugwu Odoh, said comprehensive drainage design of the affected communities would be carried out while the Urban Development Board would demolish buildings blocking water channels.

The Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde, said a joint memo would be submitted to the governor for necessary actions to address the flooding issue.

(NAN)