At least seven people have lost their lives and more than 4,500 households displaced after flash floods swept through communities in Yobe State, officials confirmed on Monday.
The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mohammed Goje, said the floods — triggered by a windstorm and heavy rainfall — left widespread destruction across Potiskum and Nangere Local Government Areas.
According to him, the disaster in Potiskum on August 15 affected 21 settlements across five wards, displacing about 1,261 households — an estimated 12,470 people.
Within hours, emergency teams provided displaced residents with food, temporary shelters, medical care, and relief supplies.
Two days later, on August 17, floods also struck Nangere LGA, where SEMA volunteers were deployed to Garin Kolo and Ajim communities to support 550 households (about 2,937 people).
Interventions included sandbagging and embankment construction, food aid, provision of safe water, and sanitation kits to prevent outbreaks of disease.
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Goje explained that most of the damaged homes were mud structures, leaving families vulnerable and in urgent need of assistance.
He noted that the government had introduced new measures to improve disaster response, including real-time river monitoring, dissemination of climate forecasts to high-risk areas, and a digital community reporting system linked to a live dashboard for flood alerts.
He also disclosed that rapid response teams at the LGA level had been trained on search-and-rescue operations and flood-related health emergencies, with kits for cholera treatment and hygiene support supplied to strengthen their capacity.
While calling for stronger collaboration, Goje stressed that no government could singlehandedly meet the scale of humanitarian needs caused by recurrent flooding, and appealed for support from partners.
The SEMA boss added that the agency was working closely with the Yobe State Geographic Information Service (YOGIS) to halt the construction of houses along waterways in order to reduce the risks of future disasters.