There are barrels of tears and degrees of destructions anytime rains visit the country, particularly, the capital, Accra.
This year was not spared, as misery and grief have decorated the faces of victims of the recent floods. From the weekend through to yesterday, many companies and individuals are still counting their loses, amidst being rendered homeless.
The emotions cannot be described, as one victim posted on her Facebook page that she had lost everything to the flood after “15 years of my hustle at Circle,” Abena Kumaa posted with emojis of tears.
Abena, a single parent, is not the only victim. One Rich Kweku called for financial help to relocate from his flood-prone abode.
A tour through some streets of Accra showed that the rains have exposed the haphazard planning of the city, which is aimed at becoming one of the cleanest on the continent of Africa.
Even before the vision materialises, the recent rains have washed off some hardened bitumen on the streets, in parts of the capital. At one of the popular lorry stations in Kaneshie, the destruction by the rain was as though an earthquake had occurred.
Motorists could not use the Beyeeman Junction, Graphic Road and the Kaneshie Mpamprom, Traffic Light Road, as they were inundated by the heavy downpour.
At the State Transport Company (STC), buses and other wares swam in the flood. Every part of the company was taken over by flood, a situation which made it extremely impossible for work to go on as at noon yesterday.
During our tour of the city yesterday, this reporter discovered that some trees had fallen, with one at the Ako Adjei Interchange blocking traffic on the Liberation Road, heading towards the Ridge roundabout, to join the Castle road or the John Evans Atta-Mills high street.
Videos went viral on social media of the vast destruction. One sad video sighted by The Chronicle was a moving vehicle whose direction was changed by the flood and later got drowned, with no help on sight.
Public Alert
The Ghana Police Service in the early hours of yesterday urged the public, especially those in Accra and Tema environs, to be cautious due to the downpour, which had started from the previous night through yesterday morning.
They advised school authorities and parents to pay extra attention to children who were already in school and those who were still trying to make their way to school.
However, they said that Police patrol teams had been deployed and were on the ground to ensure the safety of all.
3 More Rains
Meanwhile, the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has predicted that three more heavy rains will hit the southern part of the country before the end of June.
According to the agency, the phenomenon is likely to occur because the peak of the rainy season is approaching.
“When we look at climatology and the forecast that we released for the March, April, May, and June season, it looks like we have on average 3 more such incidents to occur,” Principal Meteorologist of the GMet, Nana Kofi Opoku, said on Accra based Joy FM yesterday.
He explained that the phenomenon is one that occurs at the peak of the (raining) season.
“At the peak of the season for the southern part of the country, especially in the month of June an average of three major rainfall incidents such as what happened on Saturday occur. So, on average, we are expecting about three,” he stressed.
