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Four persons have been reported dead and 20 others injured in rainstorms that hit some communities in Yala and Ogoja local government areas of Cross River State.
The incidents happened on three different days in the communities last week.
This is coming barely two weeks after a similar incident destroyed about 40 houses and displaced over 500 persons in Mbarakom, Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state. A 10-year-old girl, Miss Blessing Ekong, also sustained spinal cord injury.
PUNCH Metro learnt however that during last week’s disaster, three persons died when tree trunks and walls of residential buildings fell on them. The fourth person was said to have been struck dead by lightening.
The injured are being treated in both orthodox and traditional hospitals while one with fractured skull was referred to a specialist hospital in Enugu.
Narrating his experience to our correspondent on Saturday, Mr. Samuel Edom, a brother of one of the deceased, Mr. Ekam Ekpishoko, said residents of Egoja-Ndim in Ogoja Local Government Area, scampered to safety when cloud enveloped the community at about 5pm on Tuesday.
“The rain came down few minutes later in an unprecedented manner. It was proceeded by rainstorm. My brother was in his room with his family while I was in mine in the same building when suddenly I heard a loud sound of a tree falling and our home crumbled,” he said.
He said a tree which stood about 20 metres from the house was uprooted by the storms.
Many houses, churches, recreational centres, schools, hospitals and markets were affected by the storms.
About 20,000 persons were displaced, the majority of whom are women and children.
During a assessment of the disaster, the Chairman of Yala LGA, Mr. Gabe Ugor, said the council was overwhelmed by the destruction.
He appealed to the state and federal governments to assist the affected persons.
His Ogoja counterpart, Mr. John Edi Makpan, lamented the destruction of public schools would affect academic work and called for quick intervention on the part of the state and federal governments as well as philanthropic organisations.
He said a tree which stood about 20 metres from the house was uprooted by the storms.
Many houses, churches, recreational centres, schools, hospitals and markets were affected by the storms.
About 20,000 persons were displaced, the majority of whom are women and children.
During a assessment of the disaster, the Chairman of Yala LGA, Mr. Gabe Ugor, said the council was overwhelmed by the destruction.
He appealed to the state and federal governments to assist the affected persons.
His Ogoja counterpart, Mr. John Edi Makpan, lamented the destruction of public schools would affect academic work and called for quick intervention on the part of the state and federal governments as well as philanthropic organisations.
Culled from The Punch.
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Simply Cheska...
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