Residents of Imo State have been asked to make frantic efforts in putting appropriate measures in checking the impending Flood menace as predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Imo Orientation Agency, Chief Dr. Fidel Onyeneke made the appeal in Owerri on Saturday while speaking to Journalists.
Chief Onyeneke expressed worries that with the intensity of the rains, people in the rural areas may suffer some disasters, if precautionary actions were not taken to control flooding.
Onyeneke advised the public to clear drainage systems, and remove blockages on waterways.
He urged those in the riverine areas and other flood-prone communities, to make alternative arrangements, on how to relocate some of their valuable properties upland.
Chief Onyeneke counselled the masses not to relax, and wait till the upsurge of the floods before they think of the next line of action.
The Special Adviser commended the Imo State government for the recent flag-off of the dredging of the Oguta-Orashi river stressing that the project would go a long way in curtailing the incessant Flood menace, in some parts of the state.
Chief Onyeneke urged the National and State Emergency Management Agencies as well as the Nigerian Redcross Society, to be more proactive, and engage in intensive public enlightenment in the identified areas of flood risks.
According to him, flooding has the danger of washing off Farmlands and other agricultural projects, thereby exposing the State to hunger and economic deprivation.
Onyeneke called on Traditional Rulers, Town Unions and other major stakeholders, to show more interest in the protection of the rural dwellers, at this period of intending dangers.
He expressed optimism that the leadership of the Local Governments in the state, would apply various measures to further protect the lives and properties of the indigenes during the rainy season.