By Grace Joseph

No fewer than 78 houses, a filling station and a mosque have been destroyed while hundreds of people have been rendered homeless following heavy flood in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar yesterday promptly visited the scene
and sympathised with the victims. Governor Abubakar directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to quickly move to the affected area to assess the level of damage and ensure that adequate care was promptly given to the victims.
“I have seen the level of damage. It is quite sad. We will ensure that relief materials get to the victims as soon as possible.
“We will quickly ensure that contractors will start working on construction before paper work is carried out to avert future occurrence,” the governor said.
The Permanent Secretary of SEMA, Mohammed Garba, while giving a detail report of what happened,  told newsmen in his office yesterday that the flood occurred as a result of downpour.
Garba who said that no life was lost, explained that, “It happened in a street after Misau near Hardawa because of the  heavy inflow of water into a stream in the area.
“The heavy flow of water washed away two culverts causing the water to destroyed most of the houses which were built near the water ways”
He said as soon as the information reached them from the Nigerian Red Cross, Giade, and SEMA quickly mobilised their men to the field to assess the level of damage with a view to sending relief materials to the victims.
The Permanent Secretary said that a situation report had already been prepared which would soon be submitted to the Secretary to the State Government.
“We have informed the NEMA Operations Office in Gombe and the Operation Officer will soon visit the area to make assessment and assured that relief materials would soon get to the victims”
On how to prevent a re-occurrence, Garba said that the flood was recurrent because of the topography and soil of the area.
Garba said that people in the area need to be relocated as they face the risk of experiencing similar incidence due to poor soil.
He said in the meantime the agency had recommended to the government to redirect to work on the Misau-Hardawa area to prevent the road from cutting off and other areas from being affected by flood in the future.