-In River Cess
By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson I
Heavy down pull of rain in ITI, Rivercess county has led to flooding and overflowing of the banks of the Cestos River in neighboring villages and towns.
ITI is one the biggest mining towns in Rivercess County, hosting the Cestos River Bridge linking Rivercess to much of the Southeast
The two weeks of successive heavy rainfall in the county has caused the tide of the river to rise, submerging the bridge and leaving the entire Cestos River Bridge at the ITI checkpoint completely submerged under flood water.
In a conversation with fellow journalist Anthony N. Williams of the Liberia Broadcasting System, he reported that the two weeks’ rainfall, which is continuing, is strangulating economic activities across the county.
In the documentary, local businessman Mohamed Kieta, who runs one of the biggest businesses and has some of the biggest farms in the area, lamented that one of his shops got entirely submerged, and his farms, cattle, and livestock were all swept away by the flood.
Tugbeh C. Tugbeh Administrative, Manager at the National Disaster Management Agency, NDMA, one of the most hit villages in the area Glanyan town with an estimated 1000 households and 60 houses, with around 13 of these houses being damaged and some submerged completely
The flood disaster further led to ten-bedroom police barracks at the checkpoint also being affected, leaving the offices homeless.
Meanwhile, the government, through the relevant authorities, has constituted a team comprising the AFL and an NDMA for Disaster relief operations to assess the situation. The AFL has been taking victims to safety and providing medical outreach.
However, he reported that the paste of the rainfall has dropped, and the bridge is becoming visible but has been declared unfit for use by the engineering battalion of the Arm Forces of Liberia. “But currently, as we speak, the Cestos River Bridge is now visible as the water has subsided, but the AFL has declared it unfit for vehicles until further notice.”
