Hundreds of people in the Northern Region’s Central Gonja District have been displaced from their homes following heavy rains on Tuesday.
The heavy rains, which started at 11am and lasted for about five hours, were accompanied by strong winds which reportedly ripped the roofs off many structures in some major suburbs of the town, including schools, churches, homes and the only Police station.
The District Chief Executive of the district, Shiraz Ibn Yasir, said in an interview with Citi News that, although they were “yet to determine the extent of the damages,” no lives had, so far, been lost.
However, he described the situation as “very bad” adding that several major suburbs of the town had been cut off by the floods.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Xc1esCLr6RnP3UM59GZB0KHeFcFep4S3″] According to Mr Ibn Yazir, they have taken steps to educate the residents who had been affected by the floods on how to stay safe and “ how they can survive the situation.”
He confirmed that the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) was at the scene, but the group’s efforts were being hampered by the rains.
He however, expressed hope that “once the rain subsides because it is still raining, they can quickly go in and determine the extent of damage.”
Several parts of the country have been flooded this year after heavy rains including Teshie, Nungua and the northern regional capital, Tamale.
In May, 16 districts in Tamale were affected by severe floods after a heavy downpour
Accra has been worst hit in 2014, with the capital consistently flooding after heavy rains.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonlne.com/Ghana