The flood was devastating and affected our entire house. It got close to the window level of the wall in the rooms. It collapsed the fence. The heavy rain flooded our car and that of our neighbour parked in the compound. Everywhere was flooded. It damaged a lot of things, including my shop.
Many goods were destroyed in the shop: two bags of garri, two bags of rice, and two bags of spaghetti. A lot of things were destroyed that I cannot even mention or remember. We spent a lot to rebuild the fence.
We were sleeping in the living room for weeks before we were able to adjust. Even our car was badly affected. It was still taken for repairs some days ago.
The government came here to see the level of damage the floodwater caused, but since then, we have not seen anyone intervene. Nothing was done. The Lions Club was able to compensate the community a week after the government came for sightseeing. The chairman of the New Generation CDA tried a lot because she’s a member of the Lions Club. She was the one who invited them to see the level of damage. With her efforts, they gave out palliatives worth more than ₦100,000 to 150 people.
My husband has spent up to ₦800,000. Money was borrowed online. Siblings and friends also donated. Someone gave us 100 blocks so that we could use them to reconstruct the soakaway destroyed by the flood.
Life has not been easy. Even to feed and spend is difficult because we need to repay the loan we borrowed online. We demand that the government put a smile on our faces. Compared to what we have spent, if the government can at least give us ₦500,000, it will help us.
Apart from the financial aspect of it, when it happened, we were just looking. It’s as if our brains failed us. A lot of our plans were disrupted. We don’t even know what to do. We were perplexed.
We are appealing to the government for support. We spent a lot on repairs. Inside the house, most of our things were damaged, including the walls, the sitting room, and all our chairs. We are pleading with the government to help us with the repair and to assist us in recovering from all these losses.
As narrated by: Dada Catherine (Ikorodu, Lagos).
This snippet is published as part of a series, Lagos Under Water.
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