FOR years, relevant agencies have consistently issued warnings and projections about heavy rainfall and devastating floods. Yet governments have largely ignored them. The result is predictable, as recurring floods leave behind deaths, destruction and misery.
On the eve of July and throughout the first week of the month, torrential rains pounded Lagos and Ogun states, leaving heart-rending devastation and disturbing scenes in their wake.
The downpour came in relentless torrents, submerging homes, forcing residents out of their houses, destroying livelihoods, cutting off roads, disrupting electricity supply and shattering food supply chains.
The worst-hit areas included Agege, Ikeja, Oworonsoki, Gbagada, the Lagos-Oshodi Expressway, Abeokuta Expressway by Oshodi Bus Stop, Iwaya in Yaba, the Lekki-Epe Expressway and its environs, Victoria Island, Funsho Williams Avenue and Lagos Mainland.
Ikeja Electric said the floods damaged two power transformers and several 33kV feeders, plunging communities served by the Oworo Injection Substations 1 and 2 into blackout.
