Flood in Zamfara renders 801 people homeless

The State Emergency Management
Agency (SEMA) has said that 801
have been left stranded following a
terrible storm in Zamfara state.


Alhaji Sanusi Mohammed, the
executive secretary of SEMA in
Zamafara, made the disclosure on
Wednesday, August 10.

The flood reportedly struck Maru
town in Zamfara. In a telephone interview with News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN), Muhammad said the
affected persons included 180
women and 621 children.

He said 52 houses and farmlands
were also destroyed during the
disaster which occurred on July 29.
The executive secretary also said
that the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) and its counterpart in the state had visited
the town.

“NEMA and SEMA have visited the
affected town and conducted a joint
assessment of the disaster. We will
forward such assessment to our respective agencies for immediate
assistance.’’

Muhammad called on residents of
the state to avoid blocking drainages or constructing structures on water ways to avoid similar disasters.

The Nigeria Metrological Agency had
recently warned people along major rivers in parts of the country to vacate their houses to prevent loss of lives and property due to
anticipated flooding the rivers.

Similarly, NEMA had alerted Nigerians of possible flood in some of the states in the north and urged people and relevant authorities to prepare for emergency. In a related development, no fewer than 29 cows were on Tuesday swept away by a downpour in the Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau state.

The flooding also destroyed farmlands and swept away bridges linking the area to other parts of the state. Member representing Jos East Constituency in the Plateau state House of Assembly, Mr Joshua Madaki, told reporters on
Wednesday that the heavy rain, which lasted several hours, also
disconnected the council secretariat
from the people, forcing residents to go through the Toro Local
Government Area of Bauchi state
before they could reach the council headquarters.

Madaki solicited the intervention of
the state government and public-
spirited individuals to rescue the
affected communities by providing
relief materials and reconstructing
the damaged bridges to enable the farmers move their produce to the
markets. He said:

“The flood did not spare anything on its way as it carried away more than 29 cows. Apart from this, the main roads connecting Fobur-Federe-Angwari at Keven are
badly washed away by the flood, including crops such as rice, yam
and millet.”

“With the total collapse of roads, no heavy truck can pass through the area,” Madaki buttressed.

Meanwhile, Disaster has hit Kano
state as flood destroyed over 5,300
houses in six local government
areas of the state.

According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the executive secretary of the State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation
Agency, Alhaji Aliyu Bahsir disclosed
this in an interview in Kano on
Monday, August 8th. Bashir also said that the affected local government areas were: Bebeji, Dawakin Kudu, Kiru, Shanono, Bagwai and Garun-Malam.

Speaking on those affected, he said:

“In Dawakin Kudu alone, more than
2,300 houses were affected, while
more than 600 houses in each of the remaining five areas were destroyed by the flood.”

When asked about the response of officials to the tragedy, Bashir said that the officials of the agency had visited all the affected areas with a view to assessing the damage cause by the disaster.