A seven year old girl has been confirmed dead and several buildings pulled down in floods triggered by heavy down pour in Kaduna State.
The flood ravaged some parts of Sabon Tasha in Chikun Local Government Area and Kafanchan, the headquarters of Jemaa Local Government area of the state, destroying over 100 houses and farmlands.
The floods followed over 15 hours of rain fall, which started at about 11pm on Thursday night when many of the residents had gone to bed, and was said to have been caused by a collapsed bridge that blocked the water channels.
The rain fall which started on Wednesday, August 21, with intermittent breaks, became heavier on Thursday and started wrecking havoc when it collapsed the damaged bridge and in the process blocked the water channel that allows for easy flow of water between Anguwar Barde and Yelwa communities.
The seven year old girl was said to have been killed while she was asleep as she could not hear the sound. Her parents were said to have gone for a vigil when the incident occurred.
Angry residents; women, children and youths, have been protesting against the State Government’s failure to repair the bridge before it finally collapsed. They said that they lost so many household property worth thousands of naira. They are calling on Government to come to their rescue.
Although the affected bridge is located along a federal road, the Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, Ishaku Makama, told Channels Television correspondent on telephone that the State Ministry of Works was already aware of the incident and would immediately mobilise its officials to repair the damaged bridge and drainage system in order to avoid further flood disaster in the area.
In 2012, no fewer than 700 houses were submerged in different parts of the state capital, while many farmlands were also washed away across the three senatorial districts in the state.
The Kaduna flood, which appeared overnight when the Kaduna River was already receding, was suspected to have been released from a dam in Cameroon. It rendered thousands of people along the riverbank homeless.
