Over 70 houses in several communities in Bayelsa State were destroyed by midnight storm which was followed by a heavy downpour on last Wednesday.
The communities are Kilama, Tambiri, Egbebiri and Tein clan in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Most of the residents who spoke with Daily Trust said the rainstorm rendered them homeless totally and that they did not know where to start their lives from again.
When our reporter visited the affected communities, residents were seen trying to salvage some of their property.
The violent wind did not only blow away the roofs of houses, it also destroyed some farm produce, as well as school buildings and churches.
Some of the residents also told Daily Trust that it would take the affected communities many months to have power restored, as the rainstorm also destroyed some electric poles.
A 75-year-old victim, Mrs. Mary Zuku, whose roof was blown off barely two weeks after her husband’s death, pleaded with government to come to her aid.
She lamented that the destruction was too much because she was still mourning her late husband.
A farmer in one of the communities, Mr. Ogiama Solomon, was full of praises to God, that despite the losses no life was lost. He, however, regretted that the storm destroyed his plantation.
The paramount ruler of Kilama, Chief Difference Nemiya, told Daily Trust that the rainstorm destroyed many plantain farms, crops and economic trees.
Chief Nemiya described the rainstorm as the worst natural disaster he had witnessed, and thereafter pleaded with the state government to come to the aid of his people.
Another resident, Mr. Godhelp Okorobia, said he was badly affected, as the rainstorm destroyed both his father’s house and his own, and sacked seven of his tenants.
Most of the residents of the areas who took to social media, ascribed the incident to lack of planting of economic trees which could control winds in the rainy season, adding that states like Bayelsa, being a coastal state, would always experience such storms, but that buffer zone would help control the winds.
A Member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing the constituency, Mr. Gentle Emela, visited the affected communities and promised to draw the state government’s attention to the plight of the people, adding that government would do its best to assist.
