Flood kills nine-year-old girl, destroys 14 houses in Bauchi -Bauchi – Flooding recorded in the firstweek of August, has claimed one life anddamaged no fewer than 14 houses inBauchi metropolis, an official has said.Malam Inuwa Bello, the Head of EmergencyOperations, Bauchi State EmergencyManagement Agency (SEMA), made thisknown in an interview in Bauchi onThursday.He said that state assessment team whovisited the affected areas, confirmed thedeath of a nine-year-old girl at Shekal wardin the state capital.Bello said that plans were under way toassist the victims with food and otheressential items.According to him, the SEMA has alsointensified its sensitisation campaign onappropriate measures to be taken byresidents to avert disaster.He, however, expressed regret that in spiteof all enlightenment efforts, some peoplestill blocked culverts with garbage and builtstructures on water ways.Commenting on the issue the stateCommissioner for Information, MrMohammed Damina, said the ministry hadalso intensified its sensitisation campaign.“We have adopted several awarenesscreation strategies to draw the attention ofthe people on the need to take proactivemeasures to avert a recurrence of the flooddisasters.’’NAN recalls that heavy rainfall in the last oneweek, caused flooding, submerging somehouses and roads in the state capital.Areas worst affected by the flood wereFadaman Mada, Yelwa, Gwallaga, GRA, PalaceRoad and Shekal, among others.Those rendered homeless are currentlysquatting with friends and relations.The Federal Ministry of Environment hadissued an alert, warning that heavy rainfallcould be witnessed in some states, namelyTaraba, Adamawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kano,Zamfara, Kebbi, Bauchi, Katsina, Borno, Yobe,Gombe and Benue (NAN)