Kaduna residents count losses after windstorm damaged homes, shops
Strong winds that accompanied a heavy downpour last Thursday night in Kaduna wrecked havoc as many residents of the metropolis were rendered homeless. According to residents, the wind was strong, fierce and abrupt. It then ushered a heavy downpour that damaged homes, schools and electrical assets.
Three days after the rainstorm, certain areas of Kaduna had remained in total blackout because high and low tension electric poles had collapsed. According to the Head of Corporate Communication, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Abdulazeez Abdallah, over 20 electric poles fell mostly in Kinkinau, Gwamna road and Badiko due to the heavy wind and downpour.
The Chief Imam of Kaduna Polytechnic, Abubaka Sadiq Doka, who lives at Sardauna Crescent in Kaduna North, had to relocate his family because he lost the entire roof of his home to the wind. “The roof was blown away and I had to send my wife and children to stay with her parents during the night while I spent the night at my brother’s house,” he said.
Doka, who described the wind as a hurricane due to its ferocity, said the heavy downpour started in the evening while he was waiting to say his Isha (night prayers). “I was sitting in the room waiting for the Isha time when the rain started. There was a leakage in my ceiling so I asked my wife to put a bucket to trap the water. Later, the rain became harder and a deafening sound filled the whole community accompanied by strong wind. I believe the wind was a hurricane,” he said.
“Within a minute, the building started shaking and with Allah’s help, the front veranda collapsed. If it had affected part of the main building, it would have collapsed entirely. The whole rooftop was pulled off, and whisked away to an unknown destination.”
He stated that at this point, his family was terrified and confused. “I tried to calm them. With the rain still falling, we had to vacate the building and on coming out, we saw people outside, who thought we had died.”
The Chief Imam, whose home is still undergoing repairs due to the damage, said he has moved his belongings into a secured garage which was not affected by the wind. However, days after the wind, work was ongoing at Malam Abubakar’s residence as building materials and workers were seen littered within the vicinity. He disclosed that the cost of repairs has been estimated to the tune of N500,000.
“I have bought 300 building blocks; a truckload of sand and the workers have collected part payment to start work. I am optimistic that all will be done well and I am also grateful that no life was lost,” he said.
A few meters from Malam Abubakar’s residence, the proprietor of Haiba Private School in Kazaure road, Abdullahi Isah, was seen drying textbooks of students under the sun after they were soaked when the roof of the building gave way. The rooftop of his school had been battered by the rainfall and Abdullahi said he was grateful that the incident occurred when schools were closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said even though the owner of the building has been informed, he appealed to the state government to help those affected by the natural disaster.
“I rented the building, but the owner has been informed and inspections have been made with the cost of repairs estimated at N400,000. I pray Allah provides him with the fund to fix it before school resumes so that my students will not face difficulty during the session,” he said.
At Maiduguri road, the rainstorm, accompanied by heavy winds damaged about 15 classrooms at the LEA Primary School Maiduguri Road as well as fell several trees, while the roof tops of houses were blown away. Our correspondent observed that most of the classes in the primary school also lost their roofs while a giant tree fell on two classrooms and completely damaged them.
A resident of the area who simply identified himself as Clement told our reporter that the situation was scary. “The rainstorm started around 8pm and blew away many roofs within the school as well as few houses within the area. But we thank God no life was lost,” he said.
Ibrahim Dawaki who lives around Constitution Road however blamed the state government for felling the trees around the area which he said could have served as a buffer for the strong wind. Dawaki explained: “there used to be trees here before the state government cleared them. The trees served as shield when there is a strong wind but because the area is now an open space, the wind blows away our roof. I think it is time for government to start planting trees in these areas.”
For shop owners at the Mechanic Village in Oriapata, the wind had destroyed over 50 shops made from corrugated roofing. Saifullahi Dahir, who works at a mechanic village, said the heavy downpour was terrifying as the wind killed a cow and injured two with flying roofing sheet. Daily Trust Saturday also observed carpenters busy repairing some corrugated roofing sheets of houses and shops damaged.