Aerial surveys of the flooded towns in Anambra have been started by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Disaster Response Unit of the military.
The goal of the exercise is to identify people still stranded by the rising flood with the intention of airlifting them out of the impacted areas.
Thickman Tanimu, the NEMA South-East Zonal Coordinator, announced this on Monday in Awka.
Tanimu revealed that the President and Mustapha Ahmed-Habib, Director-General of NEMA, had expressed their condolences to the state government, the flood victims, and the bereaved.
He said that supplies for the flood victims had been approved and that they will be delivered to them on Tuesday.
He also emphasized that the flood calamity that closed up the Abuja-Lokoja route and the security situation brought on by the South East’s Monday sit-at-home movement are to blame for the delay in the delivery of relief supplies.
He said, “Search and rescue operations have commenced today(Monday). The military disaster response unit have engaged and have started ‘Air Recce’ or aerial view to collect imagery intelligence of the affected communities.
“This will help to ascertain displaced and trapped persons who need to be evacuated to pave way for air lifting.
“The delay in arrival of the relief materials is due to the flood disaster that cut off Abuja – Lokoja road and also the security situation due to the Monday sit-at-home in the South East.
“The relief material will hopefully arrived Tuesday and be ready for delivery directly to victims.
“These items are meant to complement the efforts of Anambra state government in providing immediate succour to victims and aid their speedy rehabilitation.”
The flooding that is currently destroying various portions of the state has largely destroyed the communities in the Ogbaru Local Government Area.
