A rainstorm which occurred on Monday afternoon in Egbelu community, Obio/Akpor council area of Rivers, destroyed several houses and rendered many families
homeless.
The storm pulled down the roofs of several houses, making families to vacate their homes.
Several fences and electricity polls were also affected during the rain that lasted for several hours.
Some of the affected residents said that they were worried about problems they would face following the impact of the rainstorm.
Mr Kelvin Onuegbu, the Chairman of Peace Avenue Area Landlords Association, Egbelu-Ozodo, said the entire area had been thrown into confusion as a result of the damage.
He said “I have yet to see any house that did not suffer damage no matter how small, as you can see some roofs have been entirely pulled down.
“Many have vacated their homes, of course you will agree that nobody will live in a house without roof.”
Another resident, Mr ThankGod Okannah, whose house suffered severe damage, said he was happy no member of his household was injured.
He said “as you can see, the fence was pulled down, some part of it fell on my car, I have just handed it over to God.”
Mrs Gold Aleru, another resident, called on relevant government agencies to assist the people.
She said “we want government and aid agencies to come to our aid, we built this house with our retirement benefits, today, the roof is off, where do we go from here?.
“We really need assistance, there are people who may never rebuild their houses, and the question now is: will they leave outside?.”
A Port Harcourt-based environmentalist, Dr Godfrey Ajor, told NAN that natural occurrences such as the rainstorm could be avoided by planting trees around the compound.
He said “some trees are windbreakers, they have the capacity to protect homes against storms such as the one we are talking about.” (NAN)
