The North East Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Alhassan John Kweku says communities affected by floodwaters in the region are yet to receive relief items.
This follows the submerging of some communities in the North East region including Tunguri on the Walewale Nalerigu highway after a heavy rainfall in the early hours of Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
This resulted in the destruction of a number of houses, farmlands, livestock and valuable items.
Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Wednesday, Mr Kweku said “We have communicated same to our headquarters in Accra. When you have floods of this nature what we need to do is to ensure that lives and properties are not lost so NADMO and the police, and fire service were just on the field. And as I speak to you now our men are on the ground trying to give assistance to people who may be affected and also try to evacuate them to safety.”
“And we are hoping that by Thursday the waters would have receded for us to be able to do a proper assessment to determine the level of damage caused and the assistance that the people need.”
Mr Kweku reiterated that the road linking Walewale and Nalerigu had become inaccessible after a trench was dug across the road to allow for the free flow of water and that the main bridge linking Gambaga to Nalerigu had collapsed making it difficult for people to cross over.
He therefore used the opportunity to call on all well-meaning individuals and organisations to come to the aid of the communities with relief items.
Meanwhile, admitting the enormity of floodwater and the havoc caused, Arimiyaw Somo, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Walewale said the floodwaters were abating, and that things were gradually returning to normal with the support of the NADMO and other security agencies in the region.
He further revealed that the Municipality was coming up with a new plan that will ensure the strict enforcement of settlement laws particularly to help avert some of these situations.
