…two months after Housing Minister’s directive
The perennial rainfall pattern in the middle belt of the country has set in, with the Ghana Meteorological Service Department cautioning the public should prepare to experience more flooding situations due to the predominant rains.
Despite September and October being recognised as a minor raining season, the amount of rainfall already recorded in the first two weeks of September, according to the District Meteorological Officer, Kwame Ofori-Agyemeng, is significant and indicative of what is to come.
“So far, for the first two weeks (raining days) in the month of September, Kumasi alone has recorded 270.2 millimetres of rainfall, which is quite a significant amount of rainfall,” he said.
This detailed as follows:
| Ten Day Rainfall Figures for September 2021 – Kumasi | ||||||||||||||
| Days | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Rainfall ‘MM’ | 35.3 | 12.5 | 1.8 | 36.5 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 70.3 | 0 | 4.1 | 44.5 | 23.1 | 23.8 | 13.5 |
Source: Metrological Service Department
Writer’s construct. Data Source: Metrological Service Department
However, Mr. Ofori-Agyemeng said September marks the beginning of the rainy season’s second phase; from the middle sector – Oti, Ashanti, Eastern, Western North, Bono, Ahafo Bono East Regions – to the coast.
This is expected to continue through to October, next month, with the rainy season expected to end in the third to fourth week of November 2021.
On the back of what has already been happening in the city whenever it rains, he cautioned that residents of Kumasi should be expecting more floods.
This is because “September and October, back-tracking for the past five years, the strength of those two months, given rains, is quite stronger than even the major raining season,” he observed.
“Given that we have entered into the minor raining season, people should expect that more thunderstorms and rains will occur – most especially in Kumasi,” he cautioned.
There is likely to be more intensive thunderstorms with rain, which will lead to the occurrence of more flooding situations due to the predominant rains.
Also, cloudiness will also play a role. There will be slight to heavy rainfall in Kumasi and its neighbouring environs in general.
It will be recalled that a major flooding incident occurred in June 2021, when most parts of the city were badly affected.
The torrential downpour led to the death of a total six people, including an infant, according to the Ashanti Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
It was following this development that local government authorities visited many of the affected places to witness at first-hand the damage caused.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye who later also visited some of the affected areas, asked city authorities to pull down some 300 structures which were identified to be on water-courses.
It is believed that this will help avert further flooding in future with the onset of rainy seasons.
According to Mr. Asenso-Boakye, managing flooding is not only the ministry ‘sresponsibility, but also the MMDAs as well as their chief executives who have been mandated to manage floods at the local level and help solve perennial flooding across the country.
However, some two months down the line no visible signs have been seen to show that the directive is being carried out.
While the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) office indicates not having received any information regarding the minister’s pronouncement, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) says it is waiting for a report from an ad hoc committee set up to investigate causes of the flooding.
The Public Relations Officer of KMA, Henrietta Afia Konadu, explained in an interview that the city authorities can only take a decision based on the report the committee will submit.
The Special Planning Committee has been tasked to review the drainage plan of the Metropolis, which was last revised in 1991, and has until the end of September 2021 to submit their report.
This is supposed to be done taking into consideration climate change, population and other human activities, especially around the city’s major markets.
But while this yet to be done, several places in the city continue to flood upon the slightest showers.
