FLOOD HITS ONDO STATE

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The Akure-Ore highway caused hours-long delays for commuters as a result of Ondo Town flooding following hours of intense rain.

A large portion of the town in Ondo West was under water, trapping several residents inside their cars.

As of the time of publication, no reports of any deaths have been made, according to SP Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, a spokeswoman for the Ondo Police, despite an unconfirmed report claiming that one person had been carried away by the water.

The Oke-Odunwo bridge and the Itanla neighborhood were among the many homes that were inundated.

Among the numerous commuters who were able to drive to safety was Babajide Akin-Thomas, a former Alliance for Democracy candidate.

He posted: “On my way from Abuja today, about to enter my home town, Ondo City, see rain, see flood. Thank God we quickly turned back and drove to a hill. We are safe, myself and my P.A. Some other people and their vehicles are stucked.”

Hon. Basiru Oluwole, Vice Chairman of the Ondo West Local Government’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said that building homes on rivers and disposing of waste in drainage systems were the main causes of the flood.

According to Hon. Oluwole, the floods impacted practically every area in Ondo West.

He claimed that if the local authorities hadn’t earlier used an excavator to clear the area’s drains of silt, the flood would have caused serious destruction.

In a statement issued by Ebenezer Adeniran, his chief press secretary, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa directed the evacuation of the impacted regions and the prompt deployment of government resources to prevent additional harm.

While expressing sympathy to the Osemawe of Ondo and the people of the Ondo kingdom, Aiyedatiwa added that the essential equipment has been installed to prevent the potential flood that NIMET had warned.

He claimed that in order to do dredging in the state’s most vulnerable locations to erosion, amphibious excavators had been sent there.

According to him, work has been conducted at the most vulnerable areas of Ondo Town to erosion.