Rains Wreck Havoc In Sekondi/Takoradi

Takoradi (W/R),MAY 24--Parts of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis were flooded following a heavy downpour on the early hours of Monday.

As of 8:30am, on Tuesday,most of the residents in various suburbs of the metropolis were draining flooded areas in their homes and stores.

At the central business district popularly called the market circle,the owner of Foxx Electricals who gave his name as Mr.Saviour,told the Ghana News Agency that his store which is near the Kendicks Pharmacy, got flooded to a height of 2 meters with properties worth more than GHC2,000 destroyed.

When the GNA visited the Western Hydraulics shop near the Melcom shop,the owner,Mr. Smart Mensah bemoaned that it took him and his team two hours to drain the flood waters outside his shop adding that most stores around the Mankessim White House were flooded.

A source told the GNA that a gutter around the Mankessim White House was choked thereby making the area a flood-prone zone.

When the GNA visited the Takoradi No. 2 area popularly called the::" Esikafo Amba Ntem."cluster of schools,teachers confirmed that the area was flooded but later subsided.

A resident within the same vicinity around the NAGRAT's office,Madam Elizabeth Adisenu also said the area flooded and entered their rooms and destroyed personal effects.

At Ntankoful,a building opposite the Shell Filling station got flooded and broke the wall of an adjoining house to the former MP,Mr.Joe Baidoo Ansah.

Most of the affected residents attributed the flood menace to choked gutters,narrow and shallow gutters and the poor drainage system in the metropolis.

The Acting Western Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization(NADMO),Mr.Abdul Ganiyu Mohammed later told the GNA in an interview that his outfit had identified ten(10) flood prone zones in the metropolis for action.

He mentioned the areas as Bakado,Essaman,Nkotopo,Egyamra-Bekamu,OIC and Cocoa Villa at Effia.

The rest of them are the Police park at Effia,Ketan,I Adu.and the Takoradi Market Circle.

Mr Mohammed attributed the floods to the fact that the drainage system was overflown, so many houses were submerged in water and few personal effects were destroyed.

He lauded the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly(STMA) for desilting gutters around the market circle to mitigate the extent of flooding this time around.

Mr. Mohammed said NADMO would collaborate with the STMA to look into plumbing works in the area to ensure an efficient drainage system.

NADMO would also liaise with the AMANDI construction works,contractors on the railway lines to desilt choked gutters in the metropolis.

As of the time of filing this report,the NADMO Coordinator told the GNA that his outfit was still collating data on the extent of damage and items lost in order to compensate affected households and personalities.

Mr Mohammed placed on record that the flood level recorded was 3 meters in height adding that STMA and his outfit would work harder to further mitigate the floods.

He however thanked God that no casualties were recorded during the recent floods.