A three-year-old girl has died, and a total of 3,962 residents from the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai and Aowin Municipalities in the Western North Region have been displaced, following four days of rain.
The deceased, identified as Angelina Gemedi, was reportedly carried away by the rain in Bibiani, in the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality.
The four days of continuous rainfall also led to flooding of many communities in the two municipalities, and affected 994 houses in the process.
Samuel Adu Agyei, the Western North regional director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
He said communities such as Asemkrom, Ngekain, Jema, Boinso, Omanpe, Aboi-Nsuoakyi and Sewum in the Aowin Municipality were badly damaged by the floods.
Adu Agyei said Bibiani and Bekwai in the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality also recorded similar floods.
“Many buildings collapsed as a result of the heavy rain. Personal belongings such as mattresses, beds, food items, television sets, fans [and] fridges … were destroyed but there were no injuries or casualties,” he noted.
According to him, the Aowin Municipal NADMO conducted a situational assessment in the affected areas which showed that many of the buildings destroyed were made of bricks and mud.
The assessment further showed that the victims were traumatised, as their buildings had been destroyed and they had to perch with relatives, while others have temporarily been housed in churches and schools, Agyei noted.
He said: “The assessment team discovered that the most pressing items needed for the victims were: about 500 packets of roofing sheets, 3,400 bags of cement, 2,000 bags of rice, 300 boxes of cooking oil, 1,800 pieces of student mattresses, four bales of second-hand clothing and 1,050 pieces of blankets.”
Agyei added that, meanwhile, the Aowin Municipality NADMO and the regional office have presented relief items to the victims of the flooding. He appealed to individuals, institutions and philanthropists to support them financially or in kind.
He added that the municipal chief executive of Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai, Paul Andoh, together with the works department and in collaboration with NADMO officials in Bibiani, has desilted drainage systems and streams in Bekwai, Asawinso “A“ and Bibiani to enhance the free flow of water when it rains.
He stressed that although the assembly had initiated many measures to ensure that lives are protected during the rainy season, those residing in flood-prone areas should relocate to avoid such disasters from recurring.
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