‘Lagosians don’t panic, but Superstorm Sandy may visit us within seven days’

Lagos State Government today warned residents of the state, especially those living in the coastline (atlantic) areas, of a looming cyclone in about seven to fourteen days time frame.

Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure, Mr. Adesegun Oniru who made this stunning revelation in Lagos, said that the hurricane (Superstorm Sandy), which wrecked havoc in parts of United States of America, was expected to have a ripple effect in a number of days.

He quickly added that the warning was to alert residents of the state, not to panic if they witness a cyclone of the magnitude of August 17, 2012.

Fielding questions from journalists, Oniru confessed that he did not get his facts from any expert, but from watching and observing past happenings.

He recollected that he warned of such ocean surge, before the Kuramon ocean surge, which later claimed some lives, but nobody had allegedly paid any attention to his ravings.

He said the state government opted to give this present warning based on past experience and that nobody should stay within 100 metres from the Lagos Lagoon.

 “The time frame is from experience of what has happened in the past and in Lagos when any cyclone hits South America and because of our location to that part of the world, ripple effect takes place between 7 to 14 days, so you  don’t need to be an expert or a genius to know that”, Oniru said.

The commissioner who said the incident may or may not happen, called on residents of the state to be alert and stay indoors if they noticed hurricane as anticipated.

He said the Lagos State Government had put in place measures to give facelift to beaches  like Mayegun, Alfa, Kuramo beach and some others that have in recent times been devastated by massive ocean surge adding that work is expected to commence very soon..