Rains cause havoc in Accra, Tema

A downpour in Accra and Tema yesterday left parts of the capital flooded, rendering some roads impassable.

The rains, accompanied by strong winds, brought down billboards, trees, high tension poles among others. In addition, some areas experienced flooding resulting in serious gridlocks as roads became impassable in the affected areas.

The flooding left in its wake, scattered debris along the streets and gutters.

Destruction

For instance, due to the strong winds, two billboards on the Korle Bu road were brought down. At the traffic intersection in the area, one of the billboards fell on the side of the road near the Bukom Boxing Arena.

No one was injured. Near the Landing Restaurant within the Kotoka International Airport, two vehicles — a Toyota Matiz and a Toyota Yaris, were badly damaged after trees fell on them due to the strong winds.

It had to take personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service who moved to the scene to cut and remove the trees and get the vehicles off the way to ease the traffic that the situation had caused.

Also, the stretch of the road in front of the Ghana Revenue Authority Office opposite the Accra Academy, the First Light and the Kaneshie areas were inundated with  floodwater, resulting in serious traffic congestion as vehicles were unable to move.

Flooding

At the Obestebi Lamptey Circle where the second phase of the interchange project is ongoing, flood water entered homes and shops around the underpass of the construction site.

Vehicles driving slowly through flood waters on a section of the Ofankor-Taifa road causing heavy vehicular congestion on the stretch

The frontage of places such as the Royal House Chapel, the GCB Bank, SIC, the old Pacific Filling Station, Samir Engineering and the Graphic Road, were also affected by the flood.

The situation resulted in traffic congestion with some vehicles getting stuck in the gullies created by the construction. During a tour of the area, some drivers and shop owners shouted on top of their voices that the work on the site be done quickly.

One of them, a tyre dealer, Agya Yaw, said the flooding of the area was worrying, hence the need to speed up work. He said because of the construction works, water easily got collected in the gullies created as a result of digging and movement of earth-moving machines.

Some shop owners were also seen scooping water from their shops. One passenger on board a vehicle to Accra, Sheba, said their vehicle had to spend over an hour to cross from Kaneshie to the Graphic Road because of the flooding and the resultant traffic.

Tema

A number of high tension poles belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana in the Kpone Katamansao Municipality of the Greater Accra Region were among properties destroyed by the heavy wind during the downpour.

The destruction of the high tension electricity poles and cables culminated in the loss of supply to the affected areas including Gbestile, Peaceland, Kubekrom and New York Aviation.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the ECG for the Tema Region, Mary Sakyiwaa Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that a team of engineers from the ECG had visited the affected communities to assess the extent of the damage.  

She assured residents that the company would do everything possible to ensure early restoration of power supply.

Weather warning

The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) at about 5:30 a.m., had issued a weather warning of a downpour that was to hit the southern part of the country. The warning followed a moderate rainstorm the agency had observed over southern Togo that was expected to “drift westward to affect areas within southern Ghana with thunderstorms or rain of varying intensities, as well as induce cloudiness”.

The GMet said moderate to strong winds were likely to accompany the rainstorm over some areas. It gave the high risk areas to be affected between 6:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. as Aflao, Keta, Dzodze, Anloga, Ho, Ada Foah and its surrounding areas.

The rest are Accra, Kasoa, Dodowa, Madina, Nsawam, Koforidua, Akim Oda and surrounding areas. Cape Coast, Tarkwa, Axim, Takoradi and its surroundings, however, had low risk.