Floods are submerging whole houses in Nigeria. At least 80 have died trying to escape the mudslides.
Sana Omeya walked away from her home in Abuja for the first time since it was destroyed. She ran out during the second rain to escape rising floodwaters, but she too was caught in a second wave.
Omeya’s family of 12 was sleeping when the water rose up, sending them into a frenzy.
“I jumped out of my bed, ran out and got into a vehicle. I got stuck on the road but I drove so as not to get trapped in there as well,” explained Omeya.
It was hard, even for someone like her to go back home.
“The road was blocked, which was really hard. The floods came in, and we were stuck. I was trying to save myself when my sister was rescued who was with her husband who they were taking out of the floodwaters last night,” said Omeya.
Nigerian authorities have warned that more than 80 people have drowned in a desperate attempt to escape rising floodwaters.
People living in a neighborhood in the central city of Abuja where the floods have devastated their homes have described an outpouring of emotion and fear as they watched the inferno in their home.
“The first rain came,” said a resident named Akilu. “I had already left my door on the outside and the water came into my homes.”
“When the waters came close the building collapsed. I can’t even tell you how much water we had inside the house. I saw my husband’s body inside the house.”
Akilu and her neighbours have now been displaced from their home of 10 years in Kano state where they’ve seen their belongings destroyed.
“I don’t know who to go to,” said Akilu. She feels lucky her family won’t be returning home after their house was destroyed. “I can’t call any government agencies to help them. They’re all dead.”
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