At least 30 individuals died, and one million others have been affected by heavy flooding in Nigeria’s northeast, emergency providers stated Wednesday.
“The death toll is 30,” National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Ezekiel Manzo informed AFP a day after water from an overflowing dam swept away hundreds of houses within the capital metropolis of Borno state.
“The situation in Maiduguri is quite frightening,” stated Manzo’s NEMA colleague Zubaida Umar.
“The flood has taken over round 40% of your complete metropolis. People have been compelled out of their houses and are scattered in every single place.
“From our statistics, we have 414,000 displaced people,” stated Umar, including that authorities feared the full variety of displaced might hit a million.
Umar added town’s most important hospital had additionally been affected by flooding which the U.N. refugee company in Nigeria stated on X Tuesday was town’s worst flooding in 30 years.
According to NEMA, greater than 23,000 households, and upwards of 150,000 individuals, have been hit by the fast rise of waters following the weekend rupture of the Alau dam on the Ngadda River, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Maiduguri.
An estimated 1 million individuals have been affected by heavy flooding in Maiduguri, a authorities official stated.
Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, informed journalists the estimate was based mostly on a preliminary evaluation performed by the federal government after the flood hit Maiduguri on Tuesday and induced devastation, the worst in three many years.
“The floods covered one-third of the city, affecting over 1 million people. It is very devastating,” Zulum informed journalists whereas distributing money and meals to hundreds of displaced individuals at a camp.
He stated over 100,000 persons are displaced, at the same time as search and rescue efforts proceed.
“We are distributing money and food to head of each of the families as a temporary measure to cushion the impact,” he stated, including that the federal government plans to represent a well being crew to arrange a response for attainable emergencies after the waters recede.
He additionally blamed the collapse of a dam within the metropolis’s outskirts and the overflow of water launched from neighboring African nations of Niger and Cameroon for the state of affairs.
The flood washed away animals at zoo, and broken homes, colleges, hospitals, authorities places of work, in addition to business facilities and worship facilities.
Source: www.dailysabah.com