Disaster: Flood kills seven, sacks 450 households in Yobe
Following the recent downpour across, no fewer than 450 households were affected by flood that ravaged and wreaked havoc in several communities in Yobe State according to government officials.
It was gathered that the downpour that lasted several hours on Sunday exacerbated the floods which wreaked serious havoc on lives and livelihood in the state.
The catastrophe claimed the lives of at least seven people.
Falmata Ali, whose two children perished while asleep, was among those who sustained significant losses.
The wailing mother pleaded with the government to find a long-term solution to the floods, which have become an annual occurrence in the state.
Tandari, Yindiski, Dadin Kowa, Gadan Talaka, Maisandari, Usmanti, Gaurawa, Kasaisa, Abari, and Nayinawa are among the communities hardest damaged by the water.
The flood killed everyone in the Potiskum Local Government Area (LGA), which had at least 250 houses affected.
Authorities have yet to determine the number of people affected in villages in Damaturu, the state capital, despite the fact that 249 families were affected in Nguru LGA.
The state government has asked the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to assess and respond to the victims’ predicament, according to Garba Iliya, Yobe’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs.
Mohammed Goje, the Yobe SEMA Executive Secretary, revealed that the emergency organization has already dispatched a search and rescue team to the affected areas to examine the extent of the flood damage.
Goje went on to say that the team has been working hard to ensure that individuals who have been impacted are adequately cared for, and that food and temporary shelter have been provided to numerous affected households.
He also confirmed the number of households in each community that had been affected.
Residents in the towns, like those in Faltama, have urged the government to give a long-term solution to the state’s flooding problem.
Some of them told reporters in Damaturu that the issue of perennial flooding had turned into an annual crisis, and they wanted the government to deliver both quick and long-term solutions to the problem.