A pregnant woman and her three children died when their house collapsed around them as heavy flooding deluged Bulajaji in Yobe State on Tuesday, July 2.

At least 28 houses and other properties were destroyed in the torrent. House contents and items for sale in surrounding shops were ruined.

Resident Kashim Muhammad told RNI reporter Aisha Jamal that they did not expect the flooding because the area was normally very dry and desert-like.

He said on Tuesday, people in the Yusufari Local Government Area of Yobe State woke up to extremely heavy rain which lasted for hours and caused major flooding. Fences and walls were destroyed; many houses collapsed.

“We are not used to such flooding and such heavy downfalls because we live in a very dry area. It came when we least expected it.”

Surrounding villages in Yusufari that were affected, included Jebuwa and Maimalari.

Muhammad said the community was in mourning for the pregnant woman and her children.

“After the flood, many people who had lost their homes had to find shelter in government schools or in the homes of their relatives. They will stay there until relief materials arrive. We still not have had any assistance but the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency [SEMA] had expressed condolences to the remaining loved ones and had assured residents that relief materials will be delivered to all the areas affected by the flood.

“I hope the assistance will come soon because most of the surrounding villages affected do not have mobile networks so we do not know how badly they have been affected.”

Mohammed Goje, the executive secretary of SEMA, told journalists in Damaturu, the local councils that had reported incidents included Damaturu, Yunusari, Fika, Geidam, Karasuwa, Jakusko, Yusufari, Bade, Potiskum and Nangere.

He said initial reports indicated that the most affected areas included Bulajaji and Jebuwa. However, the damage was still being evaluated.

The assessment in Bade, Jakusko, Potiskum, Nangere and Karasuwa was continuing, he said. However, four people, three adult women and a girl from Danchua in Danchuwa/Bula ward and Ramin in the Dogonini ward in the Potiskum Local Government Area and Kanda in the Tikau ward of the Nangere Local Government Area were injured and were receiving treatment at the Specialist Hospital Potiskum.

RNI reporter Alkali Mustapha said there had also been severe downpours in the Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State which had resulted in vast tracts of farmlands being washed away.

He said farmers told him the floods had caused a lot of destruction and many of their lands were now empty. The crops were “just washed away”.

Tijja Wakil, a farmer, said: “What we faced this year was beyond our expectation. We have not experienced anything like this before. I planted more than a bag of rice on my farm which had already started growing and was looking healthy but the water washed it away. The land is now empty. I feel bad but there was nothing I can do as it was written to happen by the Almighty. A lot of other Damboa farmers have also lost everything.”

“In my whole life I have never seen so much water,” said Ya Fanna. “I planted my rice and things were really starting to look good. And then the downpour started and the huge floods just washed it all away. It took everything. I escaped with nothing.”

Fanna said that none of the farmers had received any help yet. “Our situation is not so good because we face a lot of destruction.”

AISHA SD JAMAL