600 Families Lose Homes To Rainstorm In Ondo

No fewer than 600 families have been rendered homeless in Ikare, Supare, Oka and Ugbe in the Akoko area of Ondo State following heavy downpour and rainstorm which wreaked havoc in the towns at the weekend.

Structures affected included homes, schools and a police station. The vehicle of the commander of the Ikare-Akoko area command, Assistant Commissioner Rasak Rauf, was also badly damaged.

At Ugbe, the rainstorm was said to have started at about 6:30pm on Saturday and lasted for an hour, while that of Ikare and Supare started at about 4:30pm and lasted for about 30 minutes but was accompanied by heavy rainstorm and whirlwind.

Many houses and properties worth millions of naira were said to have been lost to the rainstorm.

Areas extensively hit in Ikare-Akoko included Igbede, Ishakunmi and Oyinmo quarters, where about 70 per cent of the structures, including schools and the police station, were destroyed.

Rauf’s car was said to have been destroyed in Ikare by a roof which the storm violently detached from a nearby house. The roof landed on the police officer’s vehicle and two others.

The traditional ruler of Supare, Oba Kasali Adedeji, moved round the town inspecting the damage and sympathising with the victims.

Oba Adedeji called on the state government, National Emergency Management Agency and all other relevant agencies to come to the aid of the affected victims.

One of the community leaders in Ikare, who identified himself as Chief Oluke Olamomiara, described the rainstorm as a huge tragedy requiring urgent government attention.