No fewer than 347 persons were displaced by mudslide and flooding triggered by torrential rainfall in parts of Cross River in August, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has said.
The Director-General of CR-SEMA, Mr Efa Nyong, disclosed this in an interview. Nyong said 167 persons were rendered homeless by a mudslide in Calabar, while about 180 others were displaced by flooding in communities across the Central Senatorial District.
He said the affected residents were being sheltered at various locations in Calabar and the Central Senatorial District.
According to him, the incidents highlight the increasing disaster risks confronting communities across the state and the need for residents to adopt preventive measures.
“Basically, two things are happening. They occur both naturally and through human activity.
“That is all that is happening currently in the state as regards disasters,” he said.
Nyong, who assumed office on July 14, said he had visited communities in the Southern and Central Senatorial Districts to sensitize residents on disaster prevention and preparedness.
He said the campaign would soon be extended to the Northern Senatorial District, followed by a statewide advocacy program using billboards, radio advertisements and town criers.
The SEMA boss warned residents against indiscriminate waste disposal, noting that improperly discarded refuse could cause problems far from the point where it was dumped.
“For instance, when people throw waste indiscriminately, it may not show its impact immediately where it is dumped. Its impact could be a couple of kilometers away from where the activity was carried out,” he said.
Regarding fire outbreaks, Nyong advised residents to switch off electrical appliances when not in use and to replace faulty bulbs, cables, and other electrical components promptly.
He also urged households and businesses to upgrade electrical wiring where necessary to ensure cables could safely carry the required electrical load.
Nyong said disaster response in the state followed a coordinated structure that begins at the local government level.
He explained that the Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) serves as the first line of response, with the vice-chairman of each local government coordinating emergency interventions at the community level.
He said incidents beyond the capacity of the local response structure would be escalated to SEMA and, where necessary, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
“Where we cannot manage it at the level of the state, we push it further to NEMA, where they now manage it at that level.
“When they cannot manage it at that level, we begin to seek international assistance,” he said.
Nyong identified the Nigerian Red Cross Society as a major partner in the agency’s emergency response, particularly in providing temporary accommodation and assistance to displaced persons.
He said it was difficult to place a fixed monetary value on disaster-related losses because the cost of replacing damaged property and infrastructure fluctuated with prevailing economic conditions.
“We cannot quantify it because if you want to bring it back to what it was, we don’t know the current state of the naira.
“I can buy something for N1,000 today and go back tomorrow, and it is N2,000. So I will not put a figure,” he said.
The SEMA boss said the state government was working to restore the livelihoods of disaster victims, particularly those who lost their homes and businesses.
He said SEMA was providing shelter for some displaced persons at its office, while others were being accommodated at Red Cross facilities.
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He added that individuals and private organizations had donated relief materials, while the state government had also provided relief items and financial assistance.
According to him, the immediate priority was to stabilize the affected persons and help them return to their communities or secure alternative accommodation.
“We are doing quite a whole lot until the people stabilize, to be able to integrate back into their community or look for somewhere else to stay. “That is what we are doing at the moment,” he said.
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