•35 residents swept away
•Houses, farmland, livestock destroyed •Senator Lar seeks help
DAYS after the Deputy Director, Erosion, Flood and Coastal Zone Management Department of the Ministry of the Environment, Dr. Morohunkeji Oyeleke urged 14 states to brace themselves for heavy flooding, some communities in Plateau State are already counting their losses.
More than 100 villages in seven local government areas have been submerged by floods which swept away 35 residents and sacked thousands from their homes.
The affected councils are: Mikang, Shendam, Quan Pan, Wase, Langtang South and Langtang North.
Scores of people have been declared missing in the aftermath of the flood that cut off roads and destroyed bridges.
The bridge linking Plateau with Nasarawa State and another linking Plateau with Taraba State were washed off.
Residents said the torrential rainswhich affected communities in the Plateau South Senatorial District, started Friday night and lasted throughout the weekend.
According to the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Shendam Local Government, Kemi Nshe, 200 hectares of farmland were washed away by the flood.
The Senator representing the affected senatorial zone, Victor Lar, who visited the areas to assess the damage, described the incident as unfortunate, assuring residents that he is not insensitive to their plight.
Lamenting that he had never witnessed such devastation, the 50-year-old senator called on relevant government agencies to come to the victims’ aid.
He specifically called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to act fast to avoid A breakout of epidemic due to clustering of displaced people in camps.
More than 5,000 residents, whose houses were swept away, have been distributed to various camps in the zone.
The senator, who donated food items and other relief materials worth more than N2 million to the displaced persons has contacted NEMA and the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to do the proper assessment and map out the areas of intervention.
He described as regrettable that he could not extend the handkerchief of love to some of the affected communities because the bridges leading to their areas had been washed away.
Lar urged the Federal Government to assist in the proper relocation of the affected people.
Source:The Nation