A drenching rainstorm lasting thirty minutes on February 29, left 942 residents in the Yendi municipality homeless, authorities said. The storm also destroyed 91 homes and 368 rooms. The rain storm is the first in the northern region this year.
Two people including an 8-year old named Saeed were victims of the storm. Saeed had his right leg broken while a 9-year old girl also sustained a deep cut on her right eye.
Five teachers from both primary, junior and senior high schools who took loans to build homes are in a state of total confusion after the storm destroyed their properties.
According to the teachers, they were yet to service the loans when the storm struck. The situation, the teachers said, has affected their performance in school.
“I go in the morning to register my presence and return because I don’t know what to do for now with my property,” a primary school teacher, Salifu Issah, narrated his frustration to Zaa News.
He continued, “We are like that in the night, the weather is hot so we are sleeping outside and we don’t know what to do when the rain comes.”
While some of the victims are struggling with their injuries others thanked Allah for protecting them. Victims of the storm are staying with friends and relatives for the time being.
Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Issah Zakaria toured the affected areas together with officials of Yendi Assembly in the municipality and described the disaster as very serious and called for external support for the victims.
The assembly, Alhaji Zakaria said, has submitted a report of the situation to the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) for assistance to lessen the plight of the victims.
The MCE recalled two years ago when the municipality was hit with the same disaster and several appeals to residents to desist from from using substandard building materials and the need to plant trees around their houses.
This appealed he noted was not heeded to. The MCE deplored the use of substandard materials in the area and in the northern region as a whole and urged them to use quality building materials and also consult building engineers to avoid situations such as what happened on February 29.
