A devastating windstorm accompanied by heavy rainfall has claimed two lives and left a trail of destruction across Gashu’a, the headquarters of Bade local government area, and surrounding communities in Yobe state.
The 15-minute tempest, which struck Wednesday evening, tore through the area with unprecedented fury, demolishing houses, shops, business premises, telecommunication infrastructure, and public facilities.
Thousands of residents have been rendered homeless, while property losses are estimated to run into millions of naira.
Bade local government chairman, Ibrahim Babagana, described the disaster as devastating, adding that the destruction extended across several communities within the council area.
“Roofs were blown off residential buildings, numerous shops were destroyed and many families and business owners lost valuable property and means of livelihood,” Babagana said.
He stated the gravity of the situation adding: “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 state government intervention to provide relief materials and temporary shelter for victims.”
A resident of Gashu’a, Malam Yahaya Mato, told newsmen that while the rainfall itself was not particularly heavy, the accompanying windstorm caused destruction of a magnitude never before witnessed in the area.
He added that several houses collapsed, while communication infrastructure suffered severe damage, with some telecommunication masts completely brought down and others sustaining structural damage.
Mato attributed the increasing intensity of such windstorms to widespread deforestation in the area. He said trees, which previously served as natural windbreaks, helped reduce wind speed and regulate the local microclimate. Their removal through farming, land clearing, and urban expansion has left communities dangerously exposed to destructive winds.
“Efforts to discourage indiscriminate tree felling are often ignored,” Mato lamented, warning that continued environmental degradation could lead to more frequent and severe disasters.
While some residents claimed that four people died in the incident, the medical director of the Specialist Hospital, Gashu’a, Dr. Akinola Adekunle, confirmed that two people lost their lives.