Torrential rains cause floods in Bolgatanga
Scores of residents of the Bolgatanga municipality were last Wednesday trapped in their homes following hours of torrential rains in the municipality.
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Consequently, business activities almost grounded to a halt, with the usual hustle and bustle in the central business district and around the banks being absent.
Houses were submerged by the flood waters in some suburbs such as Sawaba, a flood-prone area.
A family, including a four-year-old girl, which got trapped in their room in the area were rescued by some residents who had constituted themselves into rescue teams.
Attempts by some of the residents to salvage their household items, particularly home appliances, did not succeed, while others spent hours scooping water from their rooms.
Extent of damage
Checks at the Bolgatanga Municipal Office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) about the extent of damage caused by the floods revealed that 620 people were displaced following the downpour.
Additionally, 150 houses were submerged, while more than 130 hectares of groundnut, millet, maize and rice farms were destroyed.
Three hundred and fifty structures, including kiosks, were also damaged by the floods. Damage to property has been estimated at several thousands of Ghana cedis.
Briefing the Daily Graphic on the situation yesterday, the Bolgatanga Municipal Coordinator of NADMO, Mr Timothy Anaab, said an assessment of the situation by NADMO and the Bolgatanga Municipal Security Committee (MUSEC) showed that so far no casualty had been recorded.
He said farmlands around the Kula River, a tributary of the White Volta, were the worst affected, and as such he impressed on farmers to desist from farming along river banks.
"We are taking inventory of the situation to see how we can support the affected people with relief items," he stated.
He said the organisation was collaborating with the Information Services Department (ISD) to sensitise residents to take precautionary measures to avert future flooding in the municipality.
He said NADMO had started educating the people to desist from building along water courses, de-silt choked gutters and drains and stop throwing rubbish into drains.
Others had been advised to move to higher ground.
Victims
Two farmers who spoke to the Daily Graphic, Messrs Stephen Bugri and David Awiah, said they decided to sow their maize and other crops before the rains set in, only for the floods to destroy their crops.
They claimed that they had no land elsewhere to cultivate to generate income and appealed to NADMO and benevolent organisations for help.
