Lagos State Building Control Agency marks houses for testing after devastating floods

LAGOS State Building Control Agency (Lasbca) officials have marked about 30 houses for integrity tests after recent devastating floods that have wrecked the state making many roads impassable and threatened numerous structures.

 

Nigeria is currently in the middle of her rainy season when tropical floods traditionally wreck havoc across the country, leading to countless deaths. Because large cities like Lagos do not have structured drainage networks, they are very vulnerable to flooding, which can be very devastating in built-up areas.

 

Over the last few weeks, numerous roads in Lagos have virtually become rivers, with cars stuck in gutters, houses submerged and buildings with weak foundations brought down. Over the last two days in particular, the heavy downpours have led to areas like the Apapa end of the Oshodi Expressway being almost cut off by the floods.

Ibrahim Farinloye, the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) spokesperson in the Southwest Zone, said no life has been lost so far, however, as emergency rescuers and neighbours have acted quickly to any incident. He added, however, that certain buildings have now been marked for tested to see if the floods made them structurally dangerous.

 

Mr Farinloye said the markings were for necessary advice and action to preserve the remaining houses on the affected streets. He added, however, that youths in the area had fought off the government agencies in a bid to prevent them from marking their buildings for demolition.

Over the last week, aside from submerged homes and commercial buildings, the floods also caused serious gridlocks that lasted for hours. Also affected were pedestrians, who were stranded at different bus stops due to the inability of commercial buses and taxis to navigate the water logged roads.

Some of the affected areas in the state included Iju, Oshodi, Agege, Onipanu, Ketu, Yaba, Mushin and Abule Egba, Okota, Isolo, Ijora, some parts of Ikeja, Marine Beach, Ikorodu and Festac Town. Also affected were some highbrow areas like Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Ikoyi and some parts of Victoria Island.

Over the weekend, the persistent rainfall brought down a building at No 14, Ijaye Street, Alhaja One Bus Stop, Agege. Apparently, the house, which was reportedly constructed over 50 years ago, fell like a pack of cards after the rainwater seeped into its foundation.