Rainstorm causes havoc at Suhum
A heavy rainstorm that greeted the capital of the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District Assembly (SKCAD), Suhum, on Sunday, around 2:30 p.m., has left in its wake, glaring signs of massive destruction.
The rain, which lasted for almost two hours, destroyed items, ranging from household appliances such as televisions, fridges to food among other physical materials.
About 30 houses, chop bars, drinking spots, among other physical infrastructure, were not spared by the storm.
The thousands of residents, who have been rendered homeless, could not help, but shed uncontrollable tears, and as they counted their losses at the time of visit of the Eastern File.
One area, which was badly affected by the rain, was the Suhum central market, where goods such as second hand clothing, yam, and books among other valuable items running into thousands of Ghana cedis, have been washed away.
Even though no life was lost, it was reported that one person, who was severely injured and taken to the Suhum Government Hospital for treatment, was later discharged.
Speaking to a cross-section of media practitioners shortly after a three hour tour around the affected areas, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Suhum constituency, Frederick Opare-Ansah, thanked God that even though thousands of valuable items had been destroyed, no life was lost during the event.
According to him, beyond the immediate situation, what was extremely worrying was the tendency of the area to experience an outbreak of cholera, since the rain deposited unhygienic materials into the flooded houses of some residents.
To this end, the MP, who is also the Minority Chief Whip in the House of Parliament, assured the residents of his readiness to provide them with some items to ease their plight, and called on the Assembly, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other organisations to come to the aid of the affected people.
On his part, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area, Samuel Kwabi, also gave the assurance of the preparedness of his office to assist the affected persons.
He made the promise when he earlier visited the area with his team, including NADMO officials, some members of the Assembly and the District Police Command, to ascertain the extent of damage, shortly after the rain subsided.
The DCE was quick to appeal to residents of the area to desist from building in low-lying areas to avert such disasters.
According to him, it was disheartening when residents politicised development initiated by governments to improve and avert certain preventable natural phenomena, adding that disasters did not know any political party, and were no respecter of persons or political colours.
Thus, he launched a passionate appeal to them to support the Assembly ensure that regulations governing building and establishments were duly followed, in order to create an enabling working environment for all.