Pay heed, flash floods dangerous — GMet cautions

The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has cautioned the general public about the worrying trend of flash floods in the country, and has advised citizens to be more responsive to early warning information disseminated by the agency.

Flash floods are sudden local floods of great volume and short duration occurring within six hours or less of heavy or excessive rainfall. It has, therefore, stressed the need for residents of Accra and other parts of the country to take the forecasts by the GMet seriously to help mitigate the impact of floods associated with the expected downpours.

The acting Director-General of GMet, Dr Eric Asuman, who made the call, stressed that the situation whereby members of the public downplayed rainfall predictions was dangerous and could aggravate the impact of floods.

"Members of the public need to be more cautious now because the rains will be intense and we can only save ourselves when we have information; and that is why we need to take the forecasts from GMet, monitor it closely, and take the necessary precautions,” he stated.

Dr Asuman gave the caution in an interview with the Daily Graphic at the opening session of a regional workshop on Urban Flash Flood Forecasting System (UFFFS) organised for the six countries within the Volta Basin in Accra yesterday.

The workshop brought together experts in flood control from meteorological agencies from the six countries within the Volta Basin – Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire.

More rains

The acting Director-General of the GMet reiterated the need for members of the public to brace up for heavier rainfall as the major rainy season peaks between June and July, this year.

He stressed that members ignored such warnings at their peril and in order to stay safe, people would have to always heed the forecast and warnings, and take precautionary measures.

“About a week or two ago, GMet gave warning about rainfall and possible flooding, but it took a little bit of time before it hit Accra; and this was because the speed slowed down at a point.

But people thought it was not going to happen, but it came around 4p.m. and caused a lot of trouble to people. We should respect these warnings and take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves," he stressed.

Situation

Since the onset of the rainy season, the GMet has consistently warned of heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, particularly in the southern belt. The wind, it cautioned, is likely to cause destructions, including ripping off the roofs of buildings, breaking off loose tree branches and even uprooting trees that may not have firm roots.

Already, the impact is being felt as the downpours have led to severe congestion on roads, flooding and destruction to properties.