Accra flooded ...but Meteo says '95 was worse

The Ghanaian Times says six hours of torrential rains in Accra on Wednesday brought life to a halt. The rain, measured at 91.4 millimetres, by the Meteorological Services Department, was said to be the highest for a single day so far this year.

Starting at 5.30 am in the northern metropolis, Madina, Legon, Adenta, Achimota, Taifa, Odokor and others very early in the morning, the rain prevented commuters from beating the early morning rush-hour.

The road between Tetteh Quarshie Circle and Legon was cut off around SECAPS when the Onyasia River overflowed its banks onto the road. The road later caved in due to the weight and pressure of the river forcing the one-way by-pass in the area to be turned into a double road. In the south, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle was also rendered impassable by the flooding of the Odaw River. There were reports of scattered accident across the metropolis due to poor vision and some vehicles falling into gutters due to misjudgement of the borders of the roads.

Other reports indicated that due to the intensity of the floods in certain parts like La, Osu, Alajo and Odawna, people were forced to climb to high places and onto trees to avoid being washed away. Wednesday's floods in Accra could however, not be compared to what happened in the metropolis on July 5, 1995, according to the Meteorological Service.

Sources close to the service said the floods of 1995, which came after a nine-hour rainfall, were recorded at 258 millimetres with the intensity of 64 millimetres in 12 minutes. The 1995 rains were the heaviest to have hit Accra since 1936.