2 children die as flood destroys 200 houses in Dadin Kowa town, Gombe

A heavy early morning downpour has claimed the lives of 2 children, and destroyed over 200 houses in Dadin Kowa town of Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State.

The heavy rain that lasted over an hour occurred on Wednesday morning, wreaked havoc in some parts of the town, destroyed hundreds of houses and injured many people.

Daily Trust correspondent who visited the affected houses reported that apart from the two children that died, some people were feared missing as the flood destroyed several houses located in three residential areas of Yelwa, Tunga and Hina, rendering occupants homeless.

An affected resident of Tunga, Malam Sani Shuaibu, said his four-bedroom apartment was completely destroyed.

“I was preparing to go out for my business when the rain started, within some few minutes the building begins to crack. I was able to evacuate them [family members] safely out of the house, but we lost all our belongings,” he said.

Apart from residential buildings and properties, several livestock were also killed by the flood disaster.

Speaking to Daily Trust on the incident, Head of Rescue and Rehabilitation of the Gombe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Malam Muhammad Garba, said they were accessing the level of damages, to ascertain the number of households affected and properties destroyed by the flood.