NADMO appeals for more assistance

Saturday, June 26, 2010


THE National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has described last Sunday’s widespread floods in the country as a rare occurrence and appealed for more assistance for the thousands of displaced people nationwide.
Supporting the claim with pictures of the affected areas at a heavily attended press conference in Accra, the National Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Kofi Portuphy, said, “I have never seen such devastation before.”
He put the number of deaths at 32 and that of displaced people at 12,222.
With the numbers involved, he said, food items left for distribution to the displaced people would not go beyond one week and listed the other critical needs of the organisation as water and sanitation systems, water purifying equipment, water treatment chemicals, cargo trucks for the distribution of relief items, water tankers, diving equipment, motorised boats, canoes, outboard motors and search lights.
The organisation also required extrication equipment, clothing, pharmaceuticals, tents, vehicles, communication equipment, fire fighting equipment and buses to convey displaced persons, he added.
The national co-ordinator explained that although the government had so far helped in the area of search and rescue, shelter, clothing, food, trauma counselling, water supply, among others, assistance from other sources was welcome.
He said the government was also taking care of medical supplies, the restoration of water supply, electrical connections, roads, bridges and debris collection.
Mr Portuphy said the 32 deaths so far recorded include 18 in the Greater Accra Region, 13 in the Central Region and one in the Volta Region.
He confirmed that a lot of damage had been done to infrastructure, including roads, bridges, culverts, drains, buildings, telephone lines, power lines, water, as well as dams and farmlands in flooded areas.
“The relevant agencies, in collaboration with NADMO, are assessing the cost and the estimates will be submitted soon,” he stressed.
He mentioned some of the areas which were affected as Tema, Ashaiman, Kpone, Afienya, Agona Swedru, Agona Nyakrom, the Gomoa East and West districts and the southern part of the Volta Region.
Mr Portuphy gave the rainfall figures recorded by the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) during last Sunday’s rainfall as 24.1mm at Accra Airport, 29.7mm at Ada, 50.1mm in Tema, 2.6mm at Axim, 51.8mm in Akim Oda and 4.1mm at Akatsi.
Others were Abetifi, 6.1mm; Bole, 4.6mm; Yendi, 13.4mm; Asamankese, 9.1mm, and Nkawkaw, 2.7mm.
Pokuase was said to have recorded the highest rainfall of 84.7mm.
Giving a background to the disaster, the NADMO Co-ordinator said the heavy downpour from late Saturday night throughout Sunday to Monday threatened lives, property and infrastructure, adding that NADMO’s Rapid Response teams which were dispatched to the areas helped to minimise the effect of the disaster.
He pointed out that as of Monday, June 21, Gomoa Ayensuade, which was completely flooded and surrounded by water, remained inaccessible to the team.
During question time, Mr Portuphy indicated that rainfall forecast given by the GMA, the United Nations Space Information System, as well as two organisations under the ECOWAS, had indicated that the rains this year would not be all that heavy.
He said the country was witnessing a change in the forecast because of the effect of climate change and pointed out that the only thing that could be done in the circumstance was to educate the people to adapt to changes in weather patterns.