Over 170 houses were destroyed and about 1,200 persons displaced by floods at Cheledi community in Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi state.

Reports have it that the floods which occurred on Saturday were triggered by torrential rain that fell the previous day Friday, and resulted in the overflow of water from the surrounding mountains to submerge the community.

Commiserating with the victims, the state governor Bala Mohammed, who paid a sympathy visit to the community, said it was an act of God that no life was lost in the disaster.

He said the state government would conduct a damage assessment exercise with a view to provide emergency intervention to mitigate the sufferings of the victims, and promised that the state will adopt proactive measures to control perennial flooding in the area.

“The disaster is devastating due to the level of destruction of houses and property,” he said.

The governor donated trucks of grain and other nonfood items for distribution to the persons affected by the disaster.

He tasked community and religious leaders in the affected area to be fair and just in the distribution of the temporary relief items.

Commending the gesture, district head of Kirfi, Mohamhed Umar, said the distribution of the relief items would assuage the suffering of the displaced persons.

He also urged the state to create awareness on the dangers associated with illegal erection of structures on waterways and encourage environment friendly habits to check flooding in the state.

Two of the affected, Ali Audu and Hauwa’u Aliyu, urged the state government to ban the construction of houses and other structures on waterways.

They said the flood was caused by the lack of drains to ease flow of water and control flooding in the area.

“Water rushed from the mountains destroying houses on its way.

We want the government to enforce compliance with the ban on construction of structures on  water right-of-way to control flooding and ensure people vacate waterways.,” Mr Audu said.

Some of the displaced persons are said to be taking refuge in schools and with family members in the community.