Donga-Mantung

Tornado renders 70 families homeless in Ndu

The populations of Ntaba-Sop village in Ndu Sub Division of Donga Mantung Division, North West Region are still wondering which crime they committed that the gods poured their anger on them last weekend. Over 70 households were rendered homeless in the agricultural area of Ntaba following a deadly swoop of tornado. Even though no causality was recorded, damages of cash crops and houses are estimated in several hundreds of millions of FCFA.
Speaking to this reporter after a visit to the disaster area, the Mayor of Ndu Council, Bunyui Emmanuel said that the council will donate bundles of zinc to the affected families. He said when he visited the area he discovered the houses were poorly constructed. “You know this is the effect of poverty”, he concluded.
He revealed that over 70 houses were destroyed by the tornado. The roofs of some houses were completely destroyed while others were only partly destroyed.

    At a crisis meeting with the population, Mayor Bunyui Emmanuel advised that those who were not affected should share their houses with victims while waiting for the council to come to their assistance. Some houses that were able to withstand the tornado were left with cracks. 
    One of the victims Mama Ngwafes Lydia (82) said she was still trying to figure out how she found herself on some body’s veranda when her kitchen collapsed on her. She said all her food harvest and little savings were carried away by the stormy rains.
    It is feared that hunger my strike soon given that 75% of the population of Ntaba lost all their harvests (maize, beans, soya beans) as some were socked.
    “In fact almost everything that was harvested and kept was destroyed and socked. sI do not know what my parents will eat. Our corn ban was destroyed completely," Timothy told this reporter on phone.
    The Member of Parliament for Ndu, Hon Ngala Esther, Mayor Bunyui Emmanuel and the D.O for Ndu, Achu George, visited the disaster village to assess the damages. The fon of Sop, Fon Ndanga ll thanked the delegation for their prompt visit and expressed his need for government to give a helping hand to the affected population.
    It should be noted that two years ago a similar tornado hit Sop village rendering over 800 people homeless. Prime Minister Yang Philemon donated FCFA 5.000.000 to the victims, while Wimbum sons and daughters in the diaspora also donated huge sums of money for the reconstruction of the village. The same tornado also destroyed houses at Taku and Ntundip villages that year.