Hell In Gombe As Flood Sacks Thousands, Destroys 1000 Hectares Of Farmland

By Akinwale Kasali

Thousands of Gombe State residents are counting their loses. They have been rendered homeless, following the flood that wrecked havoc in the State no thanks to heavy rainfall.

The Gombe State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA,  disclosed that over 2,517 houses and shops were either completely or partially destroyed by flood which ravaged 33 communities.

The Deputy Director, Relief and Rehabilitation of the Agency, Ibrahim Nalado, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Saturday in Gombe State.

The affected communities are: Dukku, Funakaye and Billiri Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.

According to him, these areas were flooded due to the heavy downpour that occured between Aug. 12 and Aug. 22.

“In Dukku LGA, 10 communities were affected. In Funakaye LGA, 20 communities were affected and in Billiri LGA, three communities were affected”, he said.

Nalado said that the flooding and windstorms affected mostly houses and a few farmlands in the communities.

He said that there was no loss of life but two children were injured in Dukku, and seven animals washed away.

On the impact of flooding on farmlands, the Deputy Director said Hina community in Yamaltu/Deba LGA of the State was the worst-hit.

He said that not less than 1000 hectares of rice, maize, sorghum and millet farmlands were submerged in water.

The Deputy Director stated that his team visited Hina community on Friday, Aug. 30, to assess the level of damage.

Speaking further,  Nalado described the impact of the flooding as ‘huge and devastating’ in view of the vast area affected.

“Farmers were getting ready to harvest their crops.

“The farmers were so worried but because it was a natural phenomenon, they accepted it in good fate,” he said.

The Deputy Director stated that data on the number of farmers affected by the flood were being collated at Hina.

Nalado stated that his agency had assessed the level of damage and was compiling the reports to forward to the State Government and other relevant agencies.