*In recent floods  

Story: Samuel OBENG, Ocean 1 TV & Ahomka FM, Elmina

More than 700 houses were submerged in different communities in the Central region last week Saturday after a heavy downpour.  

A couple of bridges and roads also were destroyed, thereby making the road network impassable.

One of such bridges was the one over River Surowi at Jukwa on the Cape Coast-TwifoPrasoroad; Jukwais in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District.

A prison officer who tried to assist someone in wading through the flood waters died as he was swept away by the flood.

The floods resulted from the Kakum and Surowi rivers over-flowing their banks due to heavy rainfall in the area.

At Simiw in the Komenda-Edina-Egyuafo-Abrem (KEEA) municipality, over 50 mud houses were destroyed by the floods.

The displaced were currently housed in classrooms and churches or with relatives and friends.

Some affected areas were Simiw, Nkontrodo, Ntranoa, Abina, Atonkwa, and Ankaful in the Elmina Municipality and Amamoma and Kwaprow in the Cape Coast Metropolis.

The house of the Chief Executive Officer of Exim Bank, situated some metres away from the bridge, was flooded, with his vehicles submerged by the raging water.

At Ankaful, the Prisons Quarters were submerged by the floods, and desperate officers who were there called for help.

The Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, toured some of the affected communities with officials of the organisation.

His entourage also included the Central Regional Minister, Mrs. Justina Marigold Assan, Head of Local Governance Service, Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, and officials of the KEEA Municipal Assembly.

In his remarks after the tour, Mr. Agyemang-Prempeh stated that the flooding and its associated effect were unfortunate.

He explained that the floods in the region so far were not man-made and expressed the need for people to take precautionary measures.

He urged Ghanaians to be careful with their sanitation by desisting from throwing rubbish into drains, including gutters.

He said the country should expect more rains in the coming days, so there was a need for them to take precautions.

Mr. Agyemang-Prempeh asked those living in flood-prone areas to move to safer grounds.

He later presented some relief items to those affected by the floods.

The Central Regional Minister, Mrs. Justina Marigold Assan, in her remarks, said the situation was very problematic.

She expressed appreciation to NADMO for the swift response by attending to the displaced residents of affected communities.

Meanwhile, the bridge at Jukwa has been fixed .

A release by the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) on Saturday directed motorists and commuters heading towards Cape Coast from Twifo or vice-versa to use alternative routes such as Cape Coast-Yamoransa -AssinFosu-TwifoPraso roads.

The traffic had been diverted or reversed, and with the help of announcements made by residents in the nearby communities, no motorists got stranded at the location of the broken bridge.

Meanwhile speaking in an exclusive interview with  Ocean1 TV and Ahomka FM in Elmina, the municipal NADMO Coordinator at Komenda, Edina Equafo, Abirem (KEEA) municipality blamed some traditional leaders and the lack of corporation from the works department at the municipal assembly. 

According to Mr. Patrick Yeboah, some traditional leaders had  sold lands on water ways to people, a  situation  he said resulted in the recent flooding

. Mr. Yeboah further hinted that officials at the works and housing department at the municipality needed  to be up and doing  in ensuring that structures erected on water ways will be demolished to avoid future occurrence.

However , a  cross-section of the indigenes alleged that the Ghana Water Company, opened a dam closer to the municipality hence the disaster. Mr. Daniel Ashong a resident in the municipality who spoke on the HardTruth show on Ahomka FM and Ocean 1TV further indicated that the rate at which the water overflowed  thereby submerging their properties when it really had not rained could only be as a result of a deliberate action to solve an issue at one.

Mr. Ashong who described the scene as deadly said he had to climb to the roof of his building and scream for help as he watched his belonging float in the water.

He said his car was fully submerged and it had to take the help of some fishers and friends to rescue him with a boat.

Meanwhile Spatial Planning lecturer at the University of Cape Coast who was at the scene blamed the incident on inadequate licensed  surveyors in the country specifically the Central Region. 

Speaking in an interview, Ing. Dr. Dr Ebenezer Ankomah Gyamera said that the entire region cannot boost of about 10 licensed surveyors a situation he described as woefully inadequate and a threat to national development.