A total 2,630 people including 1,726 children were displaced in the Eastern Region by rainstorms between mid February and March this year.

In all, 325 houses and nine public buildings were affected including the girls dormitory of the Mampong School for the Deaf.

Among the districts that suffered the worst destruction of the rains were Fanteakwa, East Akim, Atiwa, Suhum, New Juaben, Kwahu North, Kwahu West and the Akuapem North Municipality.

This was disclosed by Mr Ransford Owusu-Boakye, Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Koforidua on Friday.

He said between January and March, 795 people were also affected by both domestic and bushfires in the region.

Mr Owusu-Boakye said the areas that suffered most were the Afram Plains where bush fires raised down 34 houses and burnt 68 acres of farms.

He said at Feyiase and Minaya in the Fanteakwa District, 26 buildings were destroyed by bushfires with 80 people being displaced.

He said the NADMO District Coordinators in the region had been directed to collaborate with their District Assemblies to embark on public education campaigns for people to clear water ways to ensure the free flow of water.

Mr Owusu-Boakye said the District Coordinators had also been directed to urge people living in low lying areas to move to higher grounds.

He said it was equally important for schools to take advantage of the rains to plant trees on their compounds to serve as wind breaks.