Floods have destroyed many houses and property worth billions of naira in Kankia town, Katsina State.

The areas worst hit by the disaster included Layi quarters, Kofar Yamma, Gurara, Unguwar Rinji, part of Sabon-birni and Bakin-Kasuwa.

Many of the houses in those places were destroyed, while in other places like part of Sabuwar-Abuja, Kanti and Gachi, the buildings were partially destroyed.

The affected residents now squat with their neighbours and relatives.

Some of the victims interviewed by journalists expressed shock over the incident, describing it as the first in history in over four decades, even as they solicited support from the relevant authorities and philanthropists.

One of the victims, Mustapha Suleiman, said that his house and those of his neighbours in Sabon-Birni were among those affected by the flooding.

Mr Suleiman allegedly attributed the incident to the collapse of a dam in one of the villages, which resulted in an overflow of water coming to Kankia dam.

He stated, “The dam in Kankia needs desilting and total rehabilitation because it can no longer keep water for as long as it was filled up with sand. The water coming into the dam came with heavy force, thereby preventing water from the metropolis from moving directly into the dam. As a result, the water going out of the town was blocked, and had to go back to submerge people’s houses and other buildings, hence causing flooding, especially in places such as Sabuwar-Abuja, Kanti and Gachi.’’

Another resident, Abubakar Abdullahi, said that the magnitude of the disaster was heavier because it was the first time many people were witnessing it in the Kankia metropolis.

He attributed the disaster to the non-evacuation of refuse in drainages and waterways in some of those areas.

Mr Abdullahi further said that following the incident, the dam had already collapsed and submerged some farmlands along with areas after destroying several houses in the town.

He said that climate change was also a contributing factor to the disaster, hence the need for the residents to continue to take precautionary measures to avert such unfortunate and devastating incidents.

Contacted, the chairman of the council, Lawal Abdullahi, said that he inspected the affected areas on Tuesday to assess the situation.

He said, “However, I cannot give you the exact figure of the houses affected for now. We were there yesterday, and there is the tendency that other houses also collapsed that night or after. So, right now, I am with officials of SEMA for an assessment; it is after that I can give you details on the victims’ families and our request to the relevant authorities for support of the victims.’’

The chairman, however, described the flooding as devastating, saying that “since he grew up, he had never seen such an incident. I went to a village after Tafashiya yesterday where half of the village was destroyed by flooding. It is something from the Almighty Allah, and I pray to Allah to avert future occurrences.”

(NAN)