Tony Okafor, Awka
No fewer than 10 Local Government Areas of Anambra State have been placed on red alert, following expected flooding in the areas.
The Local Government Areas are: Ayamelum, Awka North, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ogbaru, Ihiala, Idemili South, Onitsha North and South.
Consequently, the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have commenced sensitisation tours to the LGAs across the state to alert communities of an impending natural disaster as predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency.
 According to the prediction, the flood could be as devastating as that of 2012, with both economic and extreme consequences.
The Executive Secretary of SEMA, Mr. Paul Odenigbo, represented by Mr. Chukwudi Onyejekwu, in his address to the people of the council areas said the purpose of the sensitisation was to alert residents on the impending disaster in order to minimize the effects of the deluge.
 Odenigbo, who listed flash and coastal flooding as the two types of the disaster, said the flash flooding was mostly caused by human activities such as indiscriminate disposal of waste and building houses on waterways among others.
 A member of the team, Mr. Emeka Obinwa, who called for the reactivation of the Local Government Emergency Management Committee as the first responder to an emergency, also mentioned the provision of holding centres for those living along the riverine areas .
The team, however, demanded that the message be properly disseminated to residents in order to mitigate the effects of the flooding.
Receiving the delegation, the Transition Committee chairman for Onitsha South, Mr Emeka Orji, and his Onitsha North counterpart, Mr. Charles Ozoma, thanked the group for the initiative and assured that they would be ready to render support to cushion the effects of the disaster.