31 killed, 10,000 houses destroyed in Kano flood disaster

-NEMA declares Delta, Kogi, Anambra, Niger worst hit

The Kano state government has confirmed the death of 31 persons and destruction of over 10,000 houses, during the recent flood disaster in 15 local government areas of the state.
Executive Secretary, State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, Alhaji Ali Bashir, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Kano yesterday.
Bashir said the cost of the disaster, which wreaked havoc on  more than 10,000 houses in the affected areas, was estimated at over N5 billion.
“Thirty one persons lost their lives and more than 10,000 houses that are estimated at over N5 billion were affected,” he said, adding that “most of the affected houses were either totally or partially destroyed.” He explained that no fewer than 35,000 farmlands were also affected by the disaster in eight local government areas of the state.
According to Bashir, some of the farmlands were submerged by water, while others were completely washed away by the flood.
“The farm produce destroyed include maize, cotton, white beans, onion, rice, groundnut, millet and other cash crops,” he said.
He further gave a breakdown of those involved and losses suffered, saying, “8,000 farmers were affected in Wudil, 6,000 in Warawa, 2,000 in Gaya and 3,000 in Gabasawa among others.” The executive secretary added that the agency was compiling reports from the eight local government areas hit by the disaster to ascertain the value of the 35,000 farmlands destroyed.
Bashir assured that a comprehensive report would be produced for onward submission to the state government for immediate consideration.
He also disclosed that the agency had received alert from the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency that 20 local governments of the state would be affected by flooding.
Blueprint can recall that the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria recently disclosed that its members in the state had lost over 5,000 hectares of rice farms to flood in 10 local government areas of the state.
NEMA sets up centres Meanwhile, the National  Emergency Management Agency, has declared Kogi, Niger, Anambra and Delta states as national disaster zone, following flooding that has been ravaging the four states since last month.
Director General of the agency, Engineer Mustapha Maihaja, made the declaration in Lokoja yesterday shortly after assessing the level of devastation in some parts of Kogi state.
He stated that other eight floodprone states were placed on the agency’s watch list depending on the outcome of report from there.
Maihaja stated that based on the recent information received from Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency, the water level has reached 11.06 metres as at Monday, September 17th , saying, the water level has caused a lot of devastation and consequences in Kogi, Niger, Delta and Anambra states.
“The recent forecast by NIMET indicated that the rain falls will continue.
With this investigation, all indices for flooding has already manifested with Kainji and Jebba dams spilling excess water continually.
“It is also worthy to note that the Africa Regional Climate Centre in Niamy, the capital of Niger Republic, has also forecasted the above average precipitation.
It is likely that most northern states in Nigeria will experience precipitation from August to November, 2018,” the NEMA boss said.
Maihaja disclosed that the current situations in the four states with the growing consequences and devastation, requires the cooperation of international organisations to ameliorate the suffering of the flood victims.
He pointed out that with the current flood devastation in the country, NEMA will forward a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari for a lasting solution in line with the relevant provision of the National Disaster response plan to tackle the menace permanently.
The DG noted that the agency’s situation room domiciled at the headquarters and the five territorial emergency centres, had been activated for effective search and rescue operations.
..Inaugurates search centres In a related development, Mr.
Maihaja had inaugurated five Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) to facilitate prompt search and rescue operations in the 12 states worst affected by flooding.
NEMA Head of Media and Public Relations, Mr.
Sani Datti, in a statement, listed the five emergency operation centres with eight personnel each.
Datti said the centres include EOC “A” to cover Niger and Kwara states; EOC “B” for Kogi and Edo states; EOC “C”, Benue, Taraba and Adamawa states; EOC “D” for Anambra and Delta states, while EOC “E” will cover Rivers and Bayelsa states.
According to him, emergency response centres will be responsible for planning, organising, directing and supervising deployment of resources with the affected state governments and local authorities and communities.
“The primary objective is to localise the responses and expedite intervention to save lives and facilitate quick recovery.
“At command centre in Abuja, the Director General of NEMA and other chief executives will be responsible for the formulating of policy and operational guidelines for the conduct of emergency operation in all the worst affected states,” he said.
The NEMA spokesperson said the centres’ operations are to commence immediately, while expecting them to utilise the facilities and personnel of the agency’s zonal and operation offices and other critical stakeholders.

Leave a Reply