Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency (BYSEMA), has revealed that no fewer than ninety-six persons have lost their lives, with a total of one million, three hundred and forty-four thousand and fourteen persons affected directly by the devastating flood in the State.
An official data released on Monday also indicated that one million, two hundred and ten thousand, one hundred and eighty-three people were displaced from their houses.
It was gathered that Yenagoa, the State’s capital city, recorded 26 deaths which is the highest fatality figure so far.
Confirming the official data, the State’s SEMA Chairman, Hon. Walaman Igrubia, said collation of data from the field was still ongoing, while observing that the heavy flood affected a number of farmlands, school buildings, health structures and other facilities.
He also confirmed that the flooding affected several communities across the entire 8 Local Government Areas of the State.
Igrubia made it clear that the preliminary reports and data available to SEMA and other agencies indicated that Bayelsa State remains the most flood impacted among States in the country.
The SEMA boss stated that he was delighted to hear that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, has now acknowledged the fact that Bayelsa State is in the league of top ten most impacted States.