TAMALE DOWNPOUR LEAVES HOUSES FLOODED (PAGE 18, AUGUST 6, 2011)

A NUMBER of houses and stores in Tamale were flooded on Wednesday morning after a heavy downpour that lasted for about four hours.
The floods occurred in parts of Gumani, Sakasaka, Ward K, Kalpohin, Lamakara, Bomahagu and Fuo.
The main cause of the flooding has been attributed to choked gutters, which have prevented the free flow of running water.
Apart from properties that were soaked, some crops were also destroyed on farmlands that had been inundated.
Operators of shops on the Sakasaka road could be seen mopping their shops and drying their property in the sun after the downpour.
In an interview, the Tamale Metropolitan Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Hajia Abiba Kassim said the extent of damage could not yet be determined at the time of going to press.
“We have been to some of those affected areas, but we are yet unable to tell how widespread the flooding was,” she said.
Hajia Abiba said her outfit had, nonetheless, notified the regional and national offices of the flooding to enable them prepare for any relief assistance.
She expressed worry over the unwillingness of community folk to engage in communal labour aimed at emptying the choked gutters.
“It is unfortunate that the people who dump waste materials into these gutters are not prepared to mobilise and empty these gutters,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the residents of Koblimahagu, Bomahagu and Fuo are worried that a major catastrophe could happen any moment should the rains intensify.
This is because a big drainage that passes through these areas has not been completed and the uncompleted portions continue to expand each rainy season.
During the Wednesday early morning rain, the water in the gutter overflew its banks thereby inundating homes and farms nearby.
The residents therefore want the assembly to expedite action on the completion of the project before any avoidable disaster occurs.
“We are very anxious. All we pray for is for the intensity of the rain to reduce, else we would be in big trouble,” a resident of Bomahagu, Hajia Katumi Alhassan stated.
Already the area lacks roads, electricity, water and sanitation facilities and any flooding disaster could further worsen the plight of the inhabitants.