At least twelve persons have been feared dead and several others trapped as flood submerged houses in Kaduna State.
The flood which had rendered several persons homeless happened as a result of a heavy rainfall that occurred on Monday, September 21, 2015.
Some persons had also climbed trees to escape the rampaging flood that clearly overwhelmed Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
Canoe men had been working effortlessly to rescue the residents of the area, even though they charged twice what was being charged normally.
Speaking to journalists about the incident, the Director-General, SEMA, Mr. Ezekiel Baba-Karik, said that the flood was of record high in the history of the state.
He said: “So far, 12 local government areas have been badly flooded. There has never been this type of flood in the state. We shall issue a statement later. Right now, we are inspecting the damage with the state governor.”
According to one of the residents, James Aboki, they made a distress call to emergency workers after the rain had started, but unfortunately, none of them showed up.
“We made desperate calls around 7am this morning when it was obvious that there was disaster coming but SEMA never even picked our calls. We tried to remove what we can, before the entire place became like a sea,’’ he said.
The home of Vice President Namadi Sambo at Ungwan-Rimi in Kaduna North Local Government Area and Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel in Kaduna South Local Government Area were also ravaged by flood.
Also, a light bridge along Aliyu Makama Road, Barnawa, which linked the area to the city centre, was completely submerged in the flood.
Narrating the experience, a 56-year-old resident, Kabiru Audu, who lives at Unguwan Rimi, said: “I discovered I was trapped around 11:am when I dashed home to see what I could salvage from my house.
‘’Before I could get out, I discovered that the flood outside had reach close to my nostril level. I had no choice than to climb the upstairs where others had gathered.
“The boatmen came and started collecting N8,000 per head. Some of us refused to pay. But after an hour, with the situation getting worse, we started paying N20,000 per person. Even at that, there were not enough canoes to take everyone. Some people are still up there.”
One of the victims of the flood, Femi Adi, said his house and other neighbours within the vicinity were submerged.
He said: “Over 50 houses located along the river side were gone. It’s quite unfortunate that we can not help it. We saw our houses taken over by water and we could not do anything.
“I was here at the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ secretariat, Kaduna, doing my story when I was called that flood is gradually taking over the area but by the time I left and got to the house, the damage had been done.
“Unconfirmed sources said that at least 12 people had been killed. Some claimed to have seen corpses floating on the raging current.’’
