The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMeT) has warned that the country’s capital, Accra, will suffer flooding whenever it rains beyond 50 millimetres.
The warning comes after last Friday’s downpour, which left parts of Accra in large swamps of running water.
Areas such as the Tema Motorway, Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, Kaneshie, North Kaneshie, Alajo, Adabraka, Accra Central, Tema, Tema station-Accra, Osu, and others were all heavily affected after close to an hour of rainfall.
The water left many houses and cars submerged and drains carrying running water were overflown, while some potholes on roads were enlarged and deepened.
The Head of Forecasting at the GMeT, Joseph Portuphy, said in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, that the rain was gauged at 78 millimetres, which is why that level of flooding was witnessed across the city.
He affirmed that it would be problematic for Accra whenever it rained beyond 50 millimetres.
“If we have a rain above 50 millimetres within two to three hours Accra will be flooded and that was what happened,” he stated.
Mr Portuphy noted that though the city is currently in the minor rainy season, the rains will be heavy.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has cautioned the public against forecasted heavy rains.
According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NADMO, George Ayisi, the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has indicated that there will be more rain.
He said it is imperative for the public to brace up for more rains in the coming days.
“We are in constant touch with GMeT and they keep updating us every time. They say the rains are going to be severe, they are going to be heavy so we should be careful.
“Those who are travelling in some cases it will be stormy, windy. If you are travelling to places where there are trees and co just be careful. If you are in areas where the roofing of houses or homes areas not too good, let’s be careful in those areas.
“If we are in areas where we are not sure and they are flood prone let’s try and identify safe havens in the city and then let’s try and move to safer grounds for ourselves and our relatives,” he stated.