Devastating floods, which followed days of persistent rainfall, destroyed at least 300 houses and many farmlands in Nigeria’s northern state of Yobe, according to local officials on Saturday.
However, no life was lost following the disaster, said Idi Gubana, the state’s deputy governor.
Gubana, who led state officials to the places affected by the floods in Ngalda area of the state on Friday, described the level of destruction as “devastating and unfortunate”.
The official promised the government’s support to the victims, saying an arrangement has been made for relief materials to be distributed to them.
“The government would work toward finding a permanent solution to the yearly flood in the area,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, which is responsible for issuing flood alerts here, had issued an alert over possible flooding due to the high intensity of rainfall across the country.
The hydrological body said the flooding incidents are due to high rainfall intensity of long duration, rainstorms, blockage of drainage systems and poor urban planning resulting from the erection of structures within the floodplains and waterways.
This year, Nigeria’s 36 states and the federal capital territory, Abuja, would witness different levels of flooding, the hydrological body predicted.
