Two more bodies have been recovered in the aftermath of the floods which hit Accra last Sunday.
The recovery raises fears about the possibility of a higher death toll.
It’s unknown whether the recovered bodies belong to the two persons declared missing last Monday.
The two bodies were recovered from the Odaw River on the Graphic Road in Accra.
However, nothing has been heard about the baby who died with its mother during the floods although the body of the woman was later recovered.
Last Sunday’s downpour, which the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) Papa Nii Clegg described as torrential, left in its trail flooded streets and bodies.
It destroyed properties in various parts of Accra including areas not known to harbor floods.
Meteo Retooling
Government, he said, has retooled the GMA, a gesture which he added has enhanced weather predictions in the country.
“We are doing very well as a result of the retooling by government. We have the wherewithal to give better service,” he said with relish.
“The 2019 raining season has commenced and should be noted by all because the flooding which hit Accra last Sunday is only a tip of the iceberg. More rains would fall during the season,” he said.
He pointed at human activities or “anthropogenic factors” as being responsible for the climatic changes occasioned by extreme weather in the country.
This year’s season, he said, “would be accompanied by strong winds with the potential of ripping off roofs and uprooting trees with shallow roots.”
“There would also be lightning and thunderstorms during which time people should avoid taking shelter under high tension poles,” he added.
He said that it’s better for the GMA to give weather forecasts which do not come to pass than not giving such predictions at all only for the extreme situations to crop up.
According to him, all should respond to such forecasts than not doing so at all.
“God controls the weather and so we can say for instance that strong winds are coming to the country from the direction of Nigeria or Togo but these can change course as God wills such movements. Every weather is controlled by the winds and these can be delayed or even diverted to different areas.”
“The weather in recent times has been very hot and this is the result of solar radiation reaching the earth surface. In our current situation, there is no sufficient green cover such as trees or green grass to absorb the resultant heat. The night heat in the face of cemented surfaces and the absence of adequate greens is re-emitted into outer space and the resultant double heating evaporates into the atmosphere where with a little pressure results in downpours of the magnitude we witness these days.”
“That is why the less than an hour of rain last Sunday resulted in the kind of flooding witnessed. The torrential rains are human-induced. We use less renewable energy as we rely mostly on fossil fuel which impacts negatively on the weather pattern,” he added.
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