“YENAGOA and (the rest of) Bayelsa have been cut off completely from the rest of the country as a result of flooding,” said Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson on Thursday, expressing apparent concern over the safety of Bayelsans as the floods that have ravaged much of the country posed new threats to the Niger-Delta region.
Speaking while hosting the petroleum resources minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is currently on a working visit to the state, Governor Dickson described the level of flood in the state as tragic and called on Nigerians to come to the aid of the victims.
“The East-West roads on both sides has also been blocked on the eastern flank to Port Harcourt and also on the western end going to Warri,” he said, saying that the Government House in Yenagoa will be under threat if the rain continues as the situation is getting critical by the day.
“I have gone round government house and the water level is rising at a rate that I consider that even the government house is threatened.
“If the water level and rains continue in the next couple of days, we may have no alternative than to vacate.”
Dickson said that most of the major settlements, communities and villages in the state had been submerged thereby causing strain on the capital.
He said that the state government was working hard to deal with the challenges posed by the flood, especially in the areas of health, security and shelter
The governor also said that the flood had created `enormous’ challenge for the government, saying that communication facilities and other public structures had collapsed.
Dickson told the minister that temporary relief camps set up by the government to accommodate flood victims were being threatened by water.
He said the government might have to resettle the victims soon and that the government was already dealing with the issue of security of lives and property of the people, coupled with shortage of food.
He said that with some parts of the East-West road submerged by flood waters, the prices of food stuff had sky-rocketed in the state.
The governor said that the people of state might be faced with famine at the end of the flood.
He expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for taking proactive steps to address the problems caused by flooding across the country.
Earlier, Allison-Madueke said she was in the state to assess the situation and expressed shock at the extent of the damage caused by the flood.
The minister said she flew in a helicopter over her village Yenaka and other communities but could not land because the whole area had been completely submerged by flood water.
Describing the situation as a `major tragedy’, the minister commended the government for taking proactive measures to alleviate the plight of the flood victims.