State officials speak on flood disasters

Officials of some states’ emergency agencies, who spoke to our correspondents, said thousands of hectares of farmlands were submerged and houses destroyed there.

The Permanent Secretary of the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Celene Laori, said the floods killed eight persons; while seven others were missing and 26,136 displaced.

The Director-General of SEMA in Bauchi, Mas’ud Aliyu, told our correspondent that the state had recorded 12 deaths in four local government areas.

“Seven people were killed in Shire LGA, one in Katagum LGA, one in Zakil LGA and three in Gamawa LGA. This is the total number of deaths recorded by SEMA in the state.”

Executive Secretary, Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA), Goje Muhammad, said 17 persons were killed, 227 injured, 33,655 displaced, 20,766 mud houses and 33 public facilities destroyed in 323 communities and 605.6 hectares of farmland submerged across the 16 local government areas of the state.

He said the collapse of multiple bridges along the Kano-Potiskum and Bauchi-Potiskum highways, combined with water flow towards communities along Rivers Jama’are and Komodugu tributaries, posed a significant risk to parts of Yobe State.

The SEMA in Gombe said one girl was killed, 15 others injured and 100 houses destroyed after a heavy rainfall at the southern bypass of Gombe metropolis.

In Borno, SEMA’s DG, Barkindo Saidu, said 25,000 houses were destroyed and many farmlands submerged in 13 local government areas of the state.

In Katsina State, 12 lives were said to have been lost, 51 others injured and 7,781 houses destroyed by floods which the SEMA Executive Secretary, Binta Hussaini Dangani, said had affected communities in eight local government areas including Maiadua, Katsina, Charanchi, Mani, Dutsi, Jibia, Funtua and Daura.

In Kebbi State, two people were reportedly swept away by flood in the Dakingari area of the state; while over 200 homes and many farmlands were destroyed.

Yesterday, the Kaduna SEMA urged residents living in flood-prone areas to evacuate immediately owing to persistent rainfall and rising water levels along the river banks.

Its Executive Secretary, Usman Hayatu-Mazadu, said the Monday’s flood caused significant damage with over 200 houses destroyed in Zaria and Sabon-Gari LGAs. Many farmlands were also reportedly destroyed in Zaria.

He said the state government had taken measures to mitigate the flood’s impact, including desilting drainage systems and conducting sensitization campaigns.

He also urged residents, particularly farmers, to take advantage of alternative land provided by the state government for farming and to relocate to urban centers.

In Sokoto State, 14,940 houses were reportedly destroyed by flood. The chairman of the state Committee on Flood Control, Muhammad Bello Idris, in a report submitted to Governor Ahmed Aliyu, had said 1,341 villages across 22 local government areas experienced flood disaster in the state this year.

Farmlands, homes destroyed in Ebonyi

The Ebonyi State’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Jude Chikadiba, told Daily Trust yesterday that flood had destroyed farmlands, homes, crops and other valuables in the state.

The areas mostly affected were Ivo, Afikpo North, Ebonyi, Ikwo and Ohaukwu Local Government Areas. Over 146,500 persons across the 13 local government areas in the state were said to have by affected by flood in 2024.

Last month, a primary six pupil simply identified as Joshua was reportedly swept away by flood in Ikosi, Ketu area of Lagos State where many communities lost property worth millions of naira.

From Ahmad Datti (Kano), Yusha’u A. Ibrahim (Gusau), Haruna G. Yaya (Gombe), Hassan Ibrahim (Bauchi), Habibu I. Gimba (Damaturu), Olatunji Omirin (Maiduguri), Amina Abdullahi (Yola), Abubakar Auwal (Sokoto), Tijjani Ibrahim (Katsina), Ismail Adebayo (Birnin Kebbi), Nabob Ogbonna (Abakiliki) & Mohammed I. Yaba (Kaduna)

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