Three killed, 150 houses destroyed as flood wrecks havoc in Plateau

Three people have been confirmed killed while over 150 houses were destroyed after floods caused by heavy downpour wrecked havoc in some communities in Jos North local government area of Plateau State.

The affected areas, according to the Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Eugene Nyenlong, are Ungwan Rogo, Gangere, Rikkos, Bauchi road and Eto-Baba communities which experienced heavy flooding after heavy rains which began on Saturday and continued all through Sunday and Monday.

Nyenlong who spoke to journalists in his office in Jos, said his agency got a distress call that three persons had died in the flood.

Nyenlong said NEMA and other stakeholders were visiting the affected communities to assess the situation.

Read also: Kogi, Plateau, Benue, four other states risk flooding as Nigerian govt issues alert

According to the zonal coordinator, a tributary connects the communities and makes them susceptible to flood, noting that apart from the tributary, the areas had poor drainage systems.

“From the information before us, three persons have lost their lives from the flood that has become a recurring decimal in those areas,” he said.

The NEMA official further appealed to the state government to ensure residents vacate flood-prone areas as a matter of urgency.

“If the people do not want to move out permanently, they can vacate the areas during the rainy season and return during the dry season,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of the Plateau State Emergency Agency (SEMA), Sunday Abdu, who also confirmed the incident, said rescue officials had been despatched to the affected communities for an on-the-spot assessment.

 

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