The strong winds that accompanied the rains also pulled down portions of some buildings in the area. Among the worst affected were the Sang Islamic school teachers’ quarters, the district office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and staff quarters of the Nazareth Home for God’s Children, an orphanage. Some of the roads in the area were also blocked by trees that were uprooted in the storm last Tuesday. 

 

Victims

 

The victims are now putting up with friends and relatives in nearby towns as they await assistance from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). 

 

According to the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mion Constituency, Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, the rainstorm occured  just at the time that the area was recovering  from a cholera outbreak following an acute water shortage that hit the district in December last year.

 

Dr Alhassan, who was speaking with the  Daily Graphic at Sang, said he had to use his share of the MP's Common Fund to construct hand-dug wells and also rehabilitate an old dam to help solve the water problem.

 

"Just as the hand-dug wells were about to be completed, the rainstorm also set in, destroying properties and rendering majority of the residents homeless. If we do not receive an emergency response now I don't know how the people would cope,” he stated.

 

Appeal 

 

Dr Alhassan indicated that if the victims did not receive interventions now, it would worsen their plight of living without potable water, food and shelter.

 

The MP therefore appealed to NADMO, individuals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to come to the aid of the people.

 

The Mion District Assembly said it was overwhelmed by the effects of the disaster but assured the victims that the assembly would  work assiduously to alleviate their plight. 

 

The District Chief Executive (DCE)  for the area,  Mr Dan Mankandan, said his outfit was overwhelmed by the level of destruction. 

 

He said as part of preventive measures, the assembly would embark on a sensitisation campaign to educate the people on the need to plant trees in their homes and surroundings to serve as windbreaks to reduce the effects of subsequent storms in the district.