Following heavy rains on Monday, local divers stationed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rescued three residents who had drowned in heavy floods that submerged the Dogongada community in the Lokogoma District of the FCT.
According to a statement released yesterday by FEMA’s Head of Public Relations Unit, Nkechi Isa, the flood was caused by a pool of water from Apo District.
She noted that a search and rescue team, headed by the interim Director, Forecasting Response and Mitigation, Mrs. Florence Wenegieme, after the Director-General of FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, ordered an assessment tour of the impacted districts.
The team was informed that the heavy floods at Apo Dutse road which affected residents living at Amina Court, Brains and Hammers, was traceable to narrow box culvert and an ongoing construction along the river bank.
Wenegieme appealed to residents not to drive in heavy pools of water, but to wait and allow the water to subside.
She added that FEMA would soon embark on the posting of early warning signs in vulnerable areas.
Idriss said FEMA would ensure that any barriers to the free flow of water in the FCT are eliminated in response to flash floods in some parts of the FCT.
He noted that the FCTA, led by Malam Mohammed Musa Bello, has zero tolerance for transgressions on waterways as well as any violations of the FCT Master Plan that may result in the loss of life and property.
In order to stay alive in the community, he asked inhabitants to follow the Abuja master plan, building rules, and environmental measures.
