Residents of Fuo, Nyanshegu and some parts of Gumani have been hit by storms which have rendered them homeless in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region.

Several households were affected by the downpour on Tuesday, 8 October 2019.

Schoolchildren and teachers were also unable to connect between Fuo and the SSNIT Flats in the area to attend school as the bridge linking the two locations was submerged in the water.

Some residents of Fuo told Class91.3FM in an interview that the authorities need to rehabilitate the deplorable roads and bridges and construct proper drainage channels in the area.

One victim said: “We are not talking about politics, we don’t care who does it, what we want is the road worked on, the bridge worked on; we are appealing to them to come to our aid.”

Another female resident said the area was flooded as of 7:30 am when “I was sending my children to school, we couldn’t cross; we had to stay there till 9:00 am before we could cross. It was not easy because the water nearly took some away”.

A female teacher at the Taha Al-Huda Islamic School said she had to return home because the situation was very scary.

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in the region is yet to attend to the situation.

The Regional NADMO Director of Operations, Mr Abu Adams explained that it is possible their officers at the local level are monitoring and assessing the situation.

He said there are NADMO zonal coordinators and disaster management volunteer groups stationed at the various communities to gather data and report to them. He, however, expressed hope that the problem would be reported to his office in due course.

“I personally went around Koblimahagu and saw what happened. Some little effects but I advised the people about what to do to save future occurrences. I told them to fill some empty bags of cement with sand and keep them along where the water passes to divert the water to the main gutter”, Mr Abu said.

Communities such as Gumani, Tuunayili, Nyanshegu, and Gumbihini are notable flood-prone areas but Mr Abu revealed that no disaster has been reported to his office so far.