Ghana's 593.2mm rainfall in June highest since 1995 as floods kill 12

Ghana recorded its highest monthly rainfall since weather records began in 1995, with 593.2 millimetres of rain falling in June 2026, Minister for the Interior Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak has disclosed.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister said the extraordinary rainfall was a major factor behind the devastating floods that swept through parts of the Greater Accra Region on Monday, June 29.

“Mr Speaker, the country recorded 593.2 millimetres of rainfall in June, the highest monthly total ever recorded since rainfall data began being tracked in 1995,” he said.

The Minister revealed that Monday's downpour alone produced 169.2 millimetres of rainfall within a 24-hour period, making it one of the most significant single-day rainfall events in the country's recent history.

“Mr Speaker, that makes it the fourth highest daily rainfall recorded in the country since 1995. The closest was in 2002 and that was 420.6 millimetres, and the other one was 2015, 380.3 millimetres,” he told the House.

While acknowledging that indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains and the construction of buildings on waterways contributed to the flooding, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak maintained that the sheer intensity of the rainfall would have placed enormous pressure on drainage infrastructure even under ideal conditions.

“Naturally, it clearly shows that even if we had everything right, the kind of rains that we received in June and yesterday would have necessarily created some overflow and created some problem for us,” he stated.

The Interior Minister also disclosed that authorities had received weather alerts around midnight before the rains intensified, indicating that conditions were likely to deteriorate. However, he noted that the full magnitude of the rainfall could not be accurately predicted at the time.

He said government agencies remain engaged in rescue, relief and recovery operations across the affected communities.

According to the Minister, the flooding claimed 12 lives, left seven people missing, displaced 7,761 households, and caused extensive destruction to homes, businesses and public infrastructure across the Greater Accra Region.