Weather warning causes panic among flood victims living along Achimota storm drain

Flood victims living along the Achimota storm drain in Accra are currently living in fear after the Ghana Meteorological Agency warned of floods in parts of Accra and Kasoa with the onset of rains in March.

The storm drain that carries the Odaw River from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to Achimota has partially collapsed since last year.

The result has been that devastating floods hit many residents on that stretch, thereby destroying many properties. 

The most affected properties include GH Media School, a private media and communication training institution at Abofu, situated close to the partly collapsed storm drain.

Not long ago, the walls of the school collapsed during a rainstorm.

The situation has led to a severe soil erosion that is fast spreading to the railway lines that connect Accra to Nsawam, thus, posing a threat to commuters and other users on that stretch.

Many parts of the area are eroded, making some of the houses hang in balance and plunging parts of Abofu that have slum-like features into danger.

In an interview with Vincent Sakitey, a resident who doubles as the Dean of Students at the Gh Media, he describes the situation as dangerous.

He is calling on authorities to solve the problem before the rains set in.

According to Mr Sakitey, although the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) have visited the scene to asses the damage, repair works have not been initiated.

But while previous damages are yet to be addressed, the Ghana Meteorological Agency says areas such as Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Weija and the Graphic Road should be prepared for the rains since they will be hit the hardest.

This, the Agency said, is because of man-made factors including chocked drains and buildings blocking waterways around those vicinities.

The Director-General of the Ghana Meteorological Agency, Michael Tanu, has urged individuals to take precaution when the rains set in later this year.

“We will still warn that floods are definitely possible to happen because the resilience level of Accra particularly has changed. To get flooding in Accra you need to get 80mm of rainfall but currently, 30mm of rainfall can cause flooding all because our gutters are chocked,’ he said.

He added that the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) is always updated with information to enable it to prepare adequately to deal with disasters.

“Ours is to provide the information to them, the Hydrological Services runs a model threshold beyond which when our rainfall information gets to them they know that there are going to be floods. Because they are demarcation in some of these flood areas, we liaise with NADMO. The information gets to them so that they can take the necessary precaution because they have the response team,” Michael Tanu said.