Flood affects 4000 people in Katsina state

More than 4 000 people have been affected by flood in 17 local government areas of Katsina State this year, Alhaji Hassan Rawayau, the Executive Secretary, State Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (RERA), has said. Rawayau said in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Katsina that the floods had also destroyed property worth millions of naira. He, however, said that in spite of the magnitude of the disaster, it was far below what was experienced in 2012. “The magnitude of the flood this year cannot be compared with that of the year 2012 where 10 536 people were affected by flood across the state.” “Also the extent of the damage on property this year is far less than that of last year,” the executive secretary said. Rawayau also said 18 out of the 34 local government areas were affected by flood last year as against 17 local government areas this year. According to him, the reduction in the affected victims is due to the aggressive public enlightenment campaign mounted by the ministry for environment on the dangers of flood. He said that RERA and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were assessing the areas affected for further intervention. Rawayau added that the state government had since distributed relief materials to some of the flood victims in Kankia, Charanchi and Faskari local government areas, while the victims in other areas would be assisted soon. The executive secretary acknowledged the receipt of relief materials from the NEMA for some of the flood victims in the state. -    NAN