The Ghana Meteorological Agency said the July 8, 2023, rainfall experienced in Ho, Volta Regional capital was the highest recorded in a day in the history of the town for the past 20 years.
Mr Michael Adu Awuku, Volta Regional Director of the Agency, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency said the day recorded 189.2 mm of rainfall compared to 153.4 mm in 2006 and 135.2 mm in 2003.
The Director asked the people of Ho to brace up for more rains in the coming days as the country enters the peak of the rainy season.
Mr Awuku said because there was no windstorm in the rainfall, it made the whole soil more saturated, hence any little rainfall could result in flooding.
He asked people living in water-prone areas to move to highlands to protect themselves and their property because the saturation of the soil could aid in flash floods, which were very dangerous.
The Director said though the volume of the rainfall was high most areas got flooded due to poor drainage system as people continue to dump into the gutters, blocking the way of the runoff water.
Mr Awuku also lamented the felling of trees in the Municipality, which he said was negatively affecting the weather and the rainfall pattern in the area.
He noted that the area was no longer getting “localised weather for our rains” because of the situation and that most of the rains experienced came from Nigeria and other sister countries.
Meanwhile, most of these rains normally were accompanied by windstorms, he said, and hence it was likely that some of the rains to be witnessed in the coming days would be a tempest.
“When you are in a forest and there is a storm just run to where there is a palm tree to protect yourself because all trees can fall down but palm trees will not fall down and when you are in town, run to safer places where the building will not collapse on you,” he advised.
Mr Hope Smith Lomotey, Volta Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency also revealed that the July 8 rainfall was historical as it was the heaviest.
He said climate change, which takes place every 100 years could be the major cause of the recent disaster but human activities that are detrimental to the environment such as building structures in water courses, throwing solid waste into drains and waterways, as well as dismantling of buffers contributed to the damage caused by the floodwater.
He urged the people to change attitudes and behaviours from the negative factors that destabilised the environment, stating that climate change could only be stemmed through mitigation and adaptation measures including greening the environment as wetlands usually served as sponges to soak excessive floodwaters.
The Director implored residents to put precautionary measures in place for their safety as the country is in the peak of the rainy season and asked those who built on waterways to relocate to safer grounds.
An Octogenarian, Ametsitsi Korsi, a resident of Ho Bankoe, the epicentre of the disaster told the GNA last Saturday’s rainfall was unprecedented in the existence of Ho and appealed to duty-bearers to do the needful to avert future occurrence.
“I’m 80 plus and this disaster happened to be the first of a kind.”
