Dansoman Residents Swallowed Up By Floods After Rains

Many residents in Dansoman, a suburb of Accra had a difficult time getting out of their homes following a brief downpour on Sunday morning.

Parts of the area had been submerged by rainwaters, making mobility difficult and disrupting some church services.

Areas such as the Carl Reindorf street, popularly known as Otodjor were severely affected as drains appeared to have overflowed their banks.

The rains, which started at about 9 am also prevented many worshippers from going to Church as all routes had been taken over by rain waters.

Many residents who wanted to defy the rain to attend and return home from Church service was forced to walk barefooted through the rushing water which was almost at knee level.

Although such developments in many parts of the country result in the loss of properties and sometimes lives, none of such incident was recorded in the area.

Residents were however concerned that the flood could become a regular occurrence as estate developers were fast building properties in waterways and diverting the course of the water unto the streets.

They said despite the fact that the area was flood-prone, Sunday’s flood was an indication that the activities of estate developers in the area would have serious adverse effects on them.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Meteorological Agency has warned that there will be heavy rainfall this year, especially in the Southern sector.

Director of Research, Ghana Meteorological Agency, Mr Charles Kweku York

The Director of Research at the Ghana Metrological Agency, Mr Charles Kweku York, said that this year’s rains would be greater than what was recorded in 2017.

Mr York said the rains are expected to continue till July.

“The forecast for the northern part of the country is not available, but for the southern half, we are going to have normal to above normal rainfall, we are going to heavy downpours. So if we don't do our things right we are going to have floods when our draining systems are all chocked. With the storms, it could rain for between 30 to 45 minutes and it's over but it's going to be very busy. And we are going to have rainy days, good rainfall days,” he said.

“The forecast for 2018 is going to be above normal rainfall, for most places in the southern parts of the country. We are going to have a relatively [early] onset and [late] cessation and that is going to give us a long rainy season for 2018. And we don't envisage having long dry spells in between rainfall events and that is going to have a negative implication on our farming activity. The southern parts are from the Brong Ahafo Region to the coastal regions.”

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By: Kojo Agyeman & Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana