HUGE DAMAGE CAUSED BY RAINSTORM IN GHANA – 200 PEOPLE DISPLACED

The rains are here again. In some West African countries, the effect of the rains is already being felt by the people even though the rainy season is not yet in full swing.

In Ghana, on Monday, about 200 people were displaced due to the heavy rainstorm that lasted for about an hour at Atomfourso, near Seekwa, in Tain district of Brong Ahafo. The rains came with strong wind and a total number of thirty four houses were destroyed entirely.
The district coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Mr. David Amankwah confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), describing the damage done as “huge”.
Appeals are being made by various stakeholders that mobilization of relief support be made for the affected parties.
The chief of the town, Nana Ekye Nsowah-Adjei highlighted poverty in the region as a principal player in the incident. The residents of the locality generally find it difficult to build sturdy cement - block houses, and this lack of well built homes continually puts the people and their houses at risk whenever there is a rainstorm.
He has joined in the call for help from various quarters, such as from the government and from other well intentioned non-governmental bodies and has suggested to the department of Rural Housing on the need for governmental assistance in designing strong low-cost houses in the region that can withstand occurrences such as this. He also added that only qualified builders with the needed requisite skills should be engaged in the construction of the buildings.

In recent times, neighbouring Nigeria has also had records of flooding in some major cities. It seems as though West African communities fail to adequately prepare for the heavy rains which occur annually at nearly every rainy season.

Efforts are being made by governmental bodies, to scale up weather forecasting and prepare the residents of likely future flood locations ahead of the rains. International bodies such as UNICEF have started synergizing and mobilizing Nigerians that are located in the flood prone regions for an effective flood response.

Written By: Ozioma Paul