Aftermath Of The Buea Floods

Life has not been on rose beds in Buea since 18 March, 2023 when an afternoon torrential rain pulled down houses, took the life of two Buea residents and rendered over a hundred homeless. The next morning, Sunday, the Chief Executive of the Region, Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai held a crisis meeting and went down afield to have ocular testimony of the catastrophe. He was accompanied by his command staff. On 20 March, the Divisional Officer for Buea, Abba Abdouraman, began the task of identifying victims of the floods from all the areas affected and recorded over a hundred while continuing the search. The floods left victims in many areas including Wonyalyonga, Babuti, Bokova, Great Soppo, Buea Town, Molyko and the Presbyterian Synod Office.
The downpour pushed stones down the slopes and hit all in its passage. The rains carried a 10-year-old from Wonyalyonga down to Babuti, about half a kilometer away and left her dead. A twenty-seven-year-old brave man attempted to cross the torrents but succumbed to the strong wave. Since the incident occurred, residents, authorities, relatives and visitors have been on their heels either to help or to inquire to know details.
The population is being very alert as last Saturday’s catastrophe could just be a forewarning to an impending calamity. Some geographical analysts are positing that it could be a sign that the mountain is boiling to vomit any time soon. After all, the area is prone to three possible phenomena namely eruption, earth tremor or floods from the mountain. But even more is the risk of cholera since the rushes from the mountain have exposed many toilets around. As such, it is just time for sensitization as the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanaga Nji, instructed local administrators and elected officials in Buea yesterday before handing over the gifts from President Paul Biya and w...