Seven hours of downpour once again exposed the inherent weaknesses in the management of Accra’s engineering architecture, as many places were left flooded.
Apart from the usual flood-prone areas receiving a thumping from the rain water, this time around heavy winds also brought down trees planted along some of the principal streets in the city, resulting in heavy vehicular traffic, especially during the evening rush hours.
The rains started about 9 a.m. and continued well into the day.
Aftermath
Daily Graphic teams, made up of Timothy Ngnenbe, Delali Sika, Elizabeth Konadu-Boakye & Yaa Kuffour Senyah, went around to assess the situation and observed that more areas were impacted in the city, as some areas at Osu, the traffic light intersection at the National Theatre, as well as the Accra City Hotel stretch of the Barnes Road, all suffered.
The known flood-prone areas, such as Adabraka, Alajo, Abossey Okai, the Graphic Road, Agbogbloshie, Kaneshie-Odorkor, Circle, Awudome, Darkuman through to Dansoman, had barely recovered from a similar heavy downpour last week and had to again be at the receiving end with flooded roads and compounds.
Kantamanto, as well as the Tema Station business area, also bore the brunt of the downpour, with the area becoming impassable.
The Atta Mills High Street was also affected.
The team that monitored the situation around the Central Business District of Accra just around the evening rush hours when workers were leaving their offices for their homes saw that some trees along some streets had fallen onto the streets as a result of the downpour.
Fallen trees
About 6 p.m. when the Daily Graphic team got to the Barnes Road where the trees had fallen, it observed that workers of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) had cut the broken trees into pieces and were hauling them away in a truck.
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At Tema Community 8, some basic schools had buckets placed in the classrooms to collect water because parts of the roofs leaked.
The pupils had to sweep the rain water from their classrooms and verandas.
Gridlock
The severity of the flooding caused a gridlock on the Kaneshie-Odorkor stretch of the Accra-Kasoa Road, leaving road users helpless.
Some commercial vehicles got stuck in the floodwater, compelling passengers to disembark and walk.
There was similar vehicular traffic around the STC stretch of the Obetsebi-Lamptey Interchange-Kwame Nkrumah Interchange Road, as drivers frantically tried to meander their way through the Awudome route.
At the Kaneshie Market area, the Daily Graphic observed that most of the traders, especially those who traded in open spaces, had folded up their activities for the day.
It was also observed that the premises of some businesses, including fuel stations, was inundated with floodwater.
Tesano to Accra
From Tesano through to Accra, the roads were full of water, making it difficult for cars to pass through. Most pedestrians were seen running to find shelter at nearby fueling stations and structures along the road.
Heavy vehicular traffic was witnessed at the Graphic Clinic area, as parts of Adabraka were flooded, leaving drivers no choice but to use one-way roads wrongly as the rains had taken over compounds and houses.
A business owner at Tudu, Stephen Osei, said although he knew it would rain yesterday, he didn’t expecting it to be that intensive.
“I had expected the rains today, after checking my weather app yesterday, but there was only an occasional drizzle when I left Labadi and headed towards the Graphic Road. The rains intensified when I got close to the Accra Sports Stadium, but the roads were still passable.
"The streets from the Roxy Cinema area to the Graphic Road traffic light were flooded and cars were speeding through the water to avoid getting caught up in the pool,” he told the Daily Graphic.
Darkuman
The outer lane from Darkuman through to the Dansoman Junction was submerged in water, turning the five-lane road into three.
As of 9 a.m., shops on that lane were still not open, obviously due to the flooding situation. A side of the outer lane leading to the side of the Darkuman MTN office had been blocked due to situations caused by previous floods.
A shop operator, Osei Owusu, who was waiting for the rains to stop, called on the government to quickly work on the flood situation in the area, as it was affecting their businesses.
"We plead with the government to quickly come and solve the situation here because it's very bad. Anytime the clouds gather, we know we can't come to work," he said.
More rains, safe havens
Yesterday, the Ghana Meteorological Agency (G-MET) warned that there was going to be more rain along the coast in places such as Accra, Kasoa, Cape Coast and Takoradi in the night.
Consequently, NADMO advised all people living within those areas to take precautionary measures for their safety.
“Reports from the G-MET indicate that there will be more rain into the night along the coastal cities of Accra, Kasoa, Cape Coast and Takoradi. All citizens living in these areas are warned to take precautionary measures to stay safe, especially those living in flood-prone areas.
“Such people are advised to move to higher grounds and identified safe havens in their communities to avoid danger,” a statement from NADMO advised.
It further entreated the public to pay heed to the weather warning and act accordingly to keep safe.
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