An early morning downpour, which lasted more than four hours in some parts of Eket, Akwa Ibom State and its environs, on Tuesday, left the area heavily flooded.

The flood also damaged property, including household items and vehicles, worth millions of naira.

The areas mostly affected include Idua Road, RCC Road, Iso Esuk Idua, and Almighty Road, amongst other residential areas.

A landlord in the town, Gabriel Bassey, said during an interview that the rain started at about 4am, adding that “by the time it subsided, the entire vicinity had been covered by flood.

Mr Bassey said, “I saw water entering our rooms and before my family could start parking some valuable documents, flood had taken over the building.’’

He called on the state government to come to their aid to mitigate the impact of the flooding.

According to Mr Bassey, Idua Road requires good drainage that should channel water to the river.

He also appealed to the state government to build flood control structures in the area to permanently address the menace.

He said, “All the houses behind me, including 10 other houses, were affected by the flood.”

Also, a resident of Almighty Road, Idua Street, Chief Akpan Monday, said since the construction of the road by the immediate past government, the area had suffered flooding.

“We have had the same problem, with our houses being flooded, day in, day out, especially after the construction of the Almighty Road, four years ago. Like today, flood entered my house through the back,” Mr Monday stated.

He also said that the drains could not channel the flood, which made it overflow into people’s homes and buildings.

He said that floods pulled down their fences and destroyed other valuable property valued at millions of naira.

“I lost all I had, including my children’s credentials. The one that annoys me most is the one that just collected his result from his convocation from a polytechnic in Eket three days ago,” he said.

Also, Eno Okpo, lamented that the downpour destroyed her household items and other property in the area.

Mrs Okpo said that she had relocated her three children to a flood-free area in Eket.

“I will not stay again in this kind of flooded environment. The state government should come in and rescue me from this situation. That is what I’m begging the government to do for me,” Mrs Okpo noted.

(NAN)