Floods take over homes, business premises in Warri, Udu, Uvwie

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By Jimitota Onoyume

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Heavy flooding triggered by torrential rains on Monday and yesterday has taken over several homes and business premises in Warri South, Uvwie and Udu Local government areas of Delta state.

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Along Okere road in Warri, residential apartments and business premises were heavily flooded. Residents and business owners were seen bailing out water from their apartments and stores .

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A salon operator in the area said she lost hair weavons worth about N2 million belonging to customers who had brought them for revamping. She also said her generator was destroyed after floodwater entered her shop.

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Residents blamed the flooding along the Okere Road axis on a blocked canal, saying the waterway meant to evacuate rainwater had been filled with debris, preventing the free flow of water.

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Youths in the area were seen yesterday struggling to clear the canal beneath the bridge along Okere road, close to the Warri Correction Centre, apparently to ease the situation pending intervention by the local government authorities.

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Motorists and commercial tricycle operators also struggled to navigate flooded portions of Ogunu, Airport and Jakpa roads, with some commuters forced to make their way through deep pools of water.

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The rising floodwater also disrupted learning in some public schools in Udu local government area, as some parents kept their children and wards at home for fear of the dangers posed by the flood.

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“Flood has turned into something else. Houses have been taken over and there have been stories of the flood sweeping away children and even adults across the state, so I kept my children at home until the water level goes down,” a resident, Madam Oghenewhede, said.

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The affected residents appealed to the relevant local government authorities to take urgent and lasting measures to address the recurring flooding and improve drainage infrastructure in the affected areas.

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Meantime the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA ) has said that about 15 states, including communities along the coastal fringes of the Niger Delta, could experience severe flooding between September 19 and 25, 2026.

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