A city on its knees; reminiscing June 3 twin disaster

Ghana marks the second anniversary of what will go down as one of the most disastrous occurrences in the history of our country on the 3rd of June.

The disaster I refer to is one that has become known as the twin disaster of fire and flood that devastated Accra on that cold evening of June 3, 2015, left over 150 people dead in its wake and destroyed property running into millions of cedis.

Accounts
The medical, mental and emotional trauma the disaster left behind and the scars on people’s hearts and minds are as yet unquantifiable in monetary terms.

It was a normal evening, with regular showers to cool down people’s rooms from the heat wrought on by dumsor and for farmers, it was a welcome rain to nourish crops.

For those commuting from the city to their homes, it was another annoying but expected interruption of their brisk movement. Nobody could have predicted, even marginally, the torment and anguish that lay ahead for the City of Accra.

The rains fell torrentially, the water in the drains started overflowing onto the streets, cars had to stop and people got stranded and took shelter at a filling station and other open shelters around.

It was then an errant smoker decided to drop a lit cigarette from nearby without the slightest idea that the leaking fuel tanks of the filling station had contaminated the knee-deep flood waters with fuel.

The rest is more graphic than depicted in the movies. Cars and other landed property caught fire in seconds, killing passengers hiding there and many people within the vicinity.

Meanwhile, the floods kept rising, pushing unsuspecting persons fleeing the fires into big drains. Whilst volunteering my services to assisting victims in the morning, one woman told me about her ordeal. She was still shaking visibly and crying. She was asleep when she heard shouts for her to wake up. In her rush, she went to open the door, the greatest mistake of her life!.

The water kept rushing into her room with so much force she could not get out. She thus climbed onto a table and watched with fright as the waters rose.

Her head was touching the ceiling and she realised live electric wires were around her head as the water rose to neck level. She stood in the waters, silently praying and thanking God for dumsor, she knew that if the lights were to come on any moment, or if the water kept rising, she would have been fried. She stood in the cold waters, in her sleeping clothes for well over two hours.

When people found her, she was stiff. She could not walk or talk for several hours thereafter.
Meanwhile the fate of those who dangerously decided to settle on the banks of the Odaw River while our city authorities looked on were experiencing their own Armageddon.

Serwa lived on the bank of the river with her husband and two children. They stayed in a wooden structure there. She operated a small business by her house where she sold banku and kokonte to support the family. The husband did menial jobs in the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area.

On that fateful evening, Serwa and her two children were trapped in that room. They were virtually surrounded by the Odaw river that was roaring! Serwa had no option than pile up drums and stand on, hugging her two children closely to her bosom, sobbing, wondering where help will come from. Help did come eventually.

Her heroic husband who was not home had braved the floods all the way to the house. He managed to climb onto the roof, made a hole in there and extended a hand of hope! He pulled out Serwa and the two children and found a relatively safe path for them to run. Like Lot’s wife in the Bible, the husband asked her to keep running and not look back.

She, however, looked back, she didn’t become a pillar of salt but she saw the husband for the very last time as he climbed into a big tree nearby to take shelter. Upon the recession of the floods, she returned home to see their entire house and her kiosk have been washed away by the floods.
She looked up into the tree where the husband hid, unfortunately there was no tree, the whole tree and the husband were washed away into the Odaw River.

Till today, Serwa has not seen her husband again. This is what June 3 means to Serwa.

Inaction?
As a country, we observed many days of national mourning and we made lots of resolutions on preventing these kinds of disasters in our country. However, it appears either we lack the political or collective will to carry out the resolutions and recommendations that came with it, or as typical as it is of us, we are unfortunately waiting for another regrettable occurrence so we can start running around.

For example, the committee that investigated the cause of the fire and floods recommended we ban plastic carrier bags, how close we are to implementing that recommendation is anyone’s guess. I see a new filling station cited dangerously close to the classrooms and offices of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) while another filling station facing the entrance of the same university shares the space with a sprawling church, a shopping centre and big students’ hostel.

Drains
Our drains are still full, and citizens still use open drains as dumping ground for domestic waste. Structures are still sitting snugly on waterways. In one instance at Redco Estates in Madina, someone actually built across the pathway of the biggest drain in the vicinity leading to flooding and accidents even with the least amount of rainfall.

The extensive engineering recommendations are yet to see implementation and it appears citizens know they can always exploit and challenge the political will of the government to remove squatters and properties that are improperly placed. Any attempt at demolition is met with placards reading “no vote in 2020” and like kids that are afraid of mummy’s special therapy for naughty children, we withdraw and watch the slums grow, only paying lip service and playing mind games till the worst happens again.

This cannot be left to the government alone, it is a call on us all to act responsibly, to dispose waste appropriately, carry our own bags to the market and reject extra polythene bags for any and everything we buy.
Let’s obtain valid permits for residential properties, and co-operate with city planners to improve drainage and free up waterways. If the stories herein recalled touch you in anyway, then make a solemn pledge to play your role to ensure June 3, 2015 never happens again.

God bless our homeland Ghana, and shield us from these occurrences, giving us the Grace to play our part as humans to protect our environment and make it safe for human habitation.

The writer is the Founder and President of the Health Support Foundation.
Email: efogawu@yahoo.com
Tel: 020-4112487