ON June 23, floods attended a heavy rainfall in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, displacing hundreds of residents living in Trademore estate from their homes.
The downpour started during the early hours of the day and raged till 4 pm. About 166 houses were reported to have been submerged in the floods.
The ICIR report captured how many houses were submerged as residents struggled to save their lives and property. Government authorities said they had repeatedly warned residents in the estate to vacate the area as it was prone to flooding.
This is not the first time Trademore estate would be flooded after a downpour. This report intends to draw a thread of flooding incidents reported in the estate.
In January this year, 30 houses were demolished as part of an effort to mitigate flooding in the estate. The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said that flooding affected about 24,713 residents in 2022.
Flood overruns #Abuja Trademore estate#AbujaTwitterCommunity pic.twitter.com/3to67axNiE
— The ICIR (@TheICIR) June 23, 2023
Record of flooding
About 60 houses were reported, in 2014, to have been affected by flood from rainfall that started at about 5.30am. The affected buildings included a Catholic church under construction.
On August 26, 2020, one person was reported dead due to flooding in the estate. Residents said there had been flood incidents that happened as far back as 2011 and 2014.
In September 2021, another flooding tragedy hit residents of the estate. Four persons were reported to have been killed, while 166 houses were submerged in the waters.
In 2022, Trademore estate was among many areas in the FCT reportedly submerged in flood that displaced 1.4 million Nigerians.
Government representatives who visited the flooded estate on Friday, June 23 in the latest flood disaster appealed to the residents to vacate the area.
“We have all seen what happened. The water submerged the whole of this vehicle. Do not underrate the power of water. We do not want to have any loss of lives or properties this year,” one of the representatives said.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at [email protected] (jameskennyogunyale@gmail) or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames