Two people have been confirmed dead, while several others sustained injuries after a heavy rainstorm accompanied by strong winds wreaked havoc in Gashu’a, the headquarters of Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State.
The windstorm, which lasted for about 15 minutes, on Wednesday evening destroyed houses, shops, business premises, telecommunications infrastructure and other public facilities, leaving many residents homeless and causing property losses estimated at millions of naira.
Chairman of Bade Local Government Area, Ibrahim Babagana, described the disaster as devastating, saying it caused widespread destruction across several communities within the council area.
According to him, roofs were blown off residential buildings, numerous shops were destroyed and many families and business owners lost valuable property and means of livelihood.
“The scale of the destruction has exceeded the response capacity of both the affected communities and the Local Government. There is an urgent need for immediate government intervention to provide relief materials and temporary shelter for victims,” he said.
A resident of Gashu’a, Malam Yahaya Mato, said the rainfall itself was not particularly heavy, but the accompanying windstorm caused unprecedented destruction.
He said several houses collapsed, while communication infrastructure was badly affected as some telecommunications masts were completely brought down and others suffered structural damage.
Mato attributed the increasing intensity of such windstorms to widespread deforestation in the area.
He explained that trees previously served as natural windbreaks, helping to reduce wind speed and regulate the local microclimate. Their removal through farming, land clearing and urban expansion, he said, has left communities more exposed to destructive winds.
He also lamented that efforts to discourage indiscriminate tree felling are often ignored, warning that continued environmental degradation could lead to more frequent and severe disasters.
Several residents described the incident as one of the worst natural disasters to hit Gashu’a in recent years, saying many households lost their homes, businesses, food items and other valuables.
Although some residents claimed that four people died in the incident, the figure could not be independently verified.
Confirming the official casualty figure, the Medical Director of the Specialist Hospital, Gashu’a, Dr. Akinola Adekunle, said two people lost their lives, while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
He added that all injured victims received medical treatment and had since been discharged from the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has expressed concern over the heavy rainfall and accompanying windstorm that affected communities in Bade, Yunusari and Bursari Local Government Areas.
The agency said it has deployed emergency response teams, supported by personnel and volunteers from Jakusko, Karasuwa, Geidam and Nguru Local Government Areas, to conduct a rapid assessment of the affected communities.
According to SEMA, preliminary findings indicate that hundreds of homes were damaged, with vulnerable households accounting for the majority of those affected.
