Rains normal for this year
There may be no relief for Ghanaians who hope that there will be fine weather in the coming days, as the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) forecasts more rain.
Although the country experienced a downpour on Thursday, exposing Accra’s vulnerability to floods, the Head of Research at the agency, Mr Charles Kwaku Yorke, told the Daily Graphic that the rains were normal for this time of the year.
“For the rest of the week, we are going to have a few more rainfall events. I should say a rainfall amount of over 100 millimetres is not a very common occurrence, so in terms of what happened on Thursday we do not expect that in the course of the next week. However, we will get a few more rains,” he said.
He, however, expressed the hope that the sky would clear today (Saturday).
The 143-millimeters of rain on Thursday resulted in the death of one person and brought the city to a standstill, as floods took over almost every open space.
A statement issued by GMet had forecast “heavy rainfall and gusty winds …over the northern sector of the country (yesterday) morning”.
“The coastal areas are also expected to experience intermittent light to moderate rain showers this morning and early parts of the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, the entire country is expected to be cloudy, with isolated cases of thunderstorms occurring over places in the middle portions of the country,” it said.
Accra’s problem
According to experts, Accra, which is on a low-lying area, experienced flooding annually mainly because of the haphazard construction of houses, especially on water courses, the poor drainage system and a poor waste management challenge that led to residents turning drains into refuse dumps.
The city experienced its worst natural disaster on June 3, last year when torrential rains caused floods that brought Accra to its knees, with unimaginable loss of lives and destruction of properties.
More than 150 fatalities were reported in the aftermath of the floods in a disaster that has been described as the worst in the country’s history.
On May 9, 2001, the Accra Sports Stadium disaster claimed 127 lives.
In 2011, floods in the country resulted in the death of more than 30 people nationwide, with 15 victims in Accra, in addition to the destruction of property running into millions of cedis.
Similar incidents were recorded in 1968, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2014.
Although the country experienced a downpour on Thursday, exposing Accra’s vulnerability to floods, the Head of Research at the agency, Mr Charles Kwaku Yorke, told the Daily Graphic that the rains were normal for this time of the year.
“For the rest of the week, we are going to have a few more rainfall events. I should say a rainfall amount of over 100 millimetres is not a very common occurrence, so in terms of what happened on Thursday we do not expect that in the course of the next week. However, we will get a few more rains,” he said.
He, however, expressed the hope that the sky would clear today (Saturday).
The 143-millimeters of rain on Thursday resulted in the death of one person and brought the city to a standstill, as floods took over almost every open space.
A statement issued by GMet had forecast “heavy rainfall and gusty winds …over the northern sector of the country (yesterday) morning”.
“The coastal areas are also expected to experience intermittent light to moderate rain showers this morning and early parts of the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, the entire country is expected to be cloudy, with isolated cases of thunderstorms occurring over places in the middle portions of the country,” it said.
Accra’s problem
According to experts, Accra, which is on a low-lying area, experienced flooding annually mainly because of the haphazard construction of houses, especially on water courses, the poor drainage system and a poor waste management challenge that led to residents turning drains into refuse dumps.
The city experienced its worst natural disaster on June 3, last year when torrential rains caused floods that brought Accra to its knees, with unimaginable loss of lives and destruction of properties.
More than 150 fatalities were reported in the aftermath of the floods in a disaster that has been described as the worst in the country’s history.
On May 9, 2001, the Accra Sports Stadium disaster claimed 127 lives.
In 2011, floods in the country resulted in the death of more than 30 people nationwide, with 15 victims in Accra, in addition to the destruction of property running into millions of cedis.
Similar incidents were recorded in 1968, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2014.
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