Early morning downpour kills two, floods 1,500 houses, roads in Katsina

Some residences and major roads of Katsina State were left flooded after a heavy downpour lasting five hours on Monday morning, killing two persons.

The Katsina State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has reported that over 1,500 houses were submerged in three Local Government Areas.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the agency, Umar Mohammed, on Wednesday reportedly said 800 houses were affected in Faskari, 400 in Bindawa and 300 in Sabuwa Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.

Umar also said that the heavy downpour resulted in the death of two persons in Bindawa LGA and that plans are ongoing to assist other victims.

Similarly, in the state capital, Katsina, the heavy downpour flooded Tudun Katsira street as well as the Kofar Kaura roundabout axis, making it difficult for vehicles and commuters to ply the area.

Recall that last year, there was a similar occurrence in the same area that led to the collapse of some houses and a poultry farm belonging to one Mr. Emeka Aniefuna killing about 4000 birds among other livestocks.

Same last year, such heavy downpour also submerged Kano road, between the Steel Rolling roundabout and the Federal Secretariat but the state government had since constructed drainages for the area averting a repeat of the incident.

However, the state government is yet to come to the rescue of those living and plying their trade in the Tudun Katsira neighbourhood one year after.

While speaking to some residents at the Tudun Katsira neighbourhood, they said Governor Aminu Bello Masari and his aides had visited the neighbourhood in time past to see things for themselves.

They appealed to the state government to expedite action on the issue.

“The Governor and his aides came here inside the rain sometimes back to assess the situation but nothing has been done yet. We are appealing to the government to try and do something fast,” one of them said.

Efforts to speak with the Commissioner for Environment, Hamza Suleiman Faskari, on the development and what the government is doing to arrest the issue of flood in the state did not yield any result as he was not in his office and did not respond to the phone calls put through to him.