Following a heavy rainstorm that swept through Illela Local Government area in Sokoto State, one person has been reported dead and over 100 houses destroyed.
According to NAN, the Council Chairman of Illela, Alhaji Abdullahi Haruna disclosed on Sunday that seven persons including a mother and her three children, sustained various degrees of injuries during the rainstorm which happened on Friday.
He said however that six out of the injured persons had been discharged from the hospital after treatment, adding that the strong wind and heavy rain which started around 5 P.M on Friday, lasted for 30 minutes and caused enormous damage.
According to him, “The local government council secretariat, schools and other public places are among the buildings destroyed by the storm. So far, we have been able to identify more than 100 houses destroyed by the rainstorm and a committee has been set up to assess the extent of the damage.”
While stating that the use of substandard building materials for building in the area contributed to the damages, the Chairman directed the Works Department of the local government to ensure that people complied with the standard building regulations forthwith.
He said the council had contacted the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA)and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)for assistance to the victims, stating that responses of the two agencies have been satisfactory.
On his part, the Head of Sokoto Zonal Operations of NEMA, Mr Suleiman Muhammad said the agency had been notified about the disaster and will soon dispatch a technical team to assess the situation before deciding on the type of relief materials to donate to the victims
Source: NAN
