Flooding in Segbwema

A House nearly Buried

The Road to Taima

Heavy torrential rainfall in Segbwema, Kailahun district, Eastern Sierra Leone has caused historic flooding in parts of the town, destroying millions of Leones worth of property.The most affected areas are the low lying areas of the Segbwema sections of Manina and Soso town. With the water rising in the very low areas almost roof level.

From the Daru road to the swamps between Soso Town and Manina, most of the houses that are built around the river Nyeya have been inundated with water rising as high as the knee in many areas.

The Old Railway Station, which is now the main commercial hub of Segbwema is currently buried in brown sluggish water more than a feet deep in many areas.

A man Surveying his Property

The construction of a road through some swamps of the town that are tributaries of the river Nyeya without much provision for water runoff is blamed by independent experts in the town as the main reason for the severity of the flooding.

The river has been historically been know to rise during the rains but most times it has emptied easily into the large Maleh river that divides Njaluahun from Nogowa Chiefdoms. However, the new road has become a major barrier to water flow providing a dam like effect that is restricting the free movement of river water, driving it back into low lying houses and property.

Near Old Railway

Houses along the lower levels of Soso Town and Manina are currently inundated with water, with people waddling through the sludge, knee deep in some areas. Some people woke up this morning, stepping into water running through their bedrooms.

Some of the town citizens are worried that if the underlying problems are not quickly addressed, this phenomenon will be a yearly occurrence.

Kids 

Segbwema is the home town of Wesley Secondary School, Holy Ghost Secondary School and the famous Nixon Memorial Hospital.

Contacting the Honorable Abu Jajua in Segbwema today, this is what he had to say:

 "Segbwema Blogger, from a technical background, the causes of this flooding, in addition to rapid construction along the river bank of Nyeya  is the fact that ISU failed to consider the historical water flow patterns. I tried to bring this to the notice of ISU in 2013, but they decided to go by the historical map of 60s that showed the river as a small stream surrounded by a very big swamp, but did not consider the flow of water from the higher areas of Taiama section emptying into the swamp."

Segbwema MP Honorable Abu Jajua

"The realignment of the new Daru road that passes along the a major awamp route is one cause and the refusal of ISU to clear the river bed of this stream was another. The width of the stream has been reduced by the road construction, which needed clearing of the stream to allow the free flow of water."

"At the manina swamp axis, the longest swamp in the township has been abandoned and not cultivated for the past four years, possibly causing soil sedimantation and building a strong resistance to water absorption" Honorable Abu Jajua