By: Malanding Darboe
Rainstorms on Saturday wreaked havoc in several communities in six administrative regions of the country, damaging and destroying property as well as causing injuries to people.
Six people have been medically evacuated from Sikonvillage, where a roof fell on a family. Three were admitted to the Bwiam regional hospital while three others were referred to Ndemban Clinic. The rainstormsalso caused two injuries in Bajagarr village while it damaged Ansaru Islamic School in Ndemban Jola.
Two people sustained injuries in Bajagarr and were evacuated to Ndemban Clinic. In Sandu, a three-bedroom thatched house was twice hit by lightning in the early hours of Saturday but all the occupants miraculously escaped unscathed when the first one struck. Nothing thoughcould be salvaged from the house, which belonged to one Dawda Mballow of Sare Jamu. In Pallan Fula and SinchuPallen in Sabach Sanjal, the rainstorm caused an injury to an eight-year-old child and her mother while uprooting a family from their home and destroying their foodstuffs.
Similar incidents occurred in Kuntaya, Kerr Alhagie Kar, Darsilami and Tambana in Jokadu. Fass Njaga Choi and Essau in Lower Niumi in the North Bank Region have also been negatively impacted by the Saturday rainstorms while six households in the region were displaced. The storm affected fourteen communities in the West Coast Region: Kanfenda, Bujinga, Kunkunjang Jattaya, Busumbala, Sotokoi, Gunjur Berending, Kartong, Tanji, Jalanba, Sutusinjang, Bajagarr, Mayork, Kanjendi and Besse. Kiang Karantaba, Sankwia, Kani Kunda, Manduar, Si-Kunda Buiba, Tendaba and Janneh Kunda in the Lower River Region have been affected.
A reproductive and child health clinic in Sait Maram in the Central River Region was damaged by the rainstorm whilst it caused damage in two communities in the region namely: Chamen Nianija and Brikamanding. SinchuMusa in Sandu, Sinchu Banding and Sare Jamu Mballowin the URR were also affected by the Saturday rainstorms.
The National Disaster Management Agency has since deployed data collectors to assess the full extent of the rainstorms as some affected families were relocated to their neighbourhoods.
