Heavy rainfall floods parts of Koforidua Zongo
Hours of heavy rain last Thursday and Friday left parts of Koforidua Zongo in the New Juaben South municipality in the Eastern Region flooded.
The downpour flooded many areas as the main drainage system in the municipality overflew its banks.
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The drains could not carry huge volumes of water because they were choked with sand, black polythene bags and plastic materials.
A house affected by the flood
Affected areas
The affected areas included Alhaji Issah Contractor, Achiguda, Mallam Fari, Musco, Alaafia and Zongo market areas, all in Community A, B and C electoral areas in the Koforidua Zongo.
The floods destroyed property worth thousands of cedis and displaced scores of people from their homes, and they had to stay with their friends and other relatives to keep safe.
When the Daily Graphic visited the affected places last Saturday, it observed that the areas had been inundated with water and displaced scores of people.
Residents spent hours scooping the water that entered their rooms and shops, as well as containers and kitchens.
Checks by the Daily Graphic also revealed that many drains constructed in the past were too small and poorly constructed to receive huge volumes of water that gushed into them during torrential rains.
One of the affected houses inundated with flood waters
Victims
Some affected residents expressed concern about the situation and appealed to the government to come to their aid to find a lasting solution to the perennial flooding in the municipality.
A resident, Hajia Nafisah Abdulai, said she had been badly affected by the floods. She told the Daily Graphic that she had no other place to live.
She said some of her belongings had also been destroyed while others were carried away by the flood waters, making it very difficult for her to make ends meet.
"I have severally reported the flooding situation in the area to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for New Juaben South, Mr Isaac Appaw-Gyasi, but no action has been taken yet.
She appealed to the government to immediately construct proper drains in the area to stop the perennial flooding that confronted the zongo community.
According to her, it was not the first time the area had been flooded, adding that she had spent the night collecting water which had entered her kitchen and room destroying many valuable things.
A tenant trying to redirect the flood waters from her home
Long-term solution
Meanwhile, Mr Appaw-Gyasi told the Daily Graphic that the assembly was still committed to securing funding to construct the main drainage system to address the perennial flooding situation in the areas affected.
He also attributed the flooding to the inability of the drains in the areas to take in water because they had been choked as a result of human activities such as throwing of polythene bags, refuse, plastic materials in the drains.
He said the assembly was working hard to tackle the flooding problems in the affected areas.
Mr Appaw-Gyasi advised the residents as well as the entire zongo community, to stop throwing plastic materials and refuse into the drains.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Eastern Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Kwame Appiah Kodua, he said his outfit was not aware of the flooding.
He, however, directed the municipal officer to liaise with the zonal coordinators to quickly move to the affected areas to assess the extent of damage caused by the rain to know what help NADMO could offer.
