Heavy rains have killed many people in Ghana, Ivory Coast | Climate Crisis News

Greater Accra regional fire chief Rashid Kwame Nisawu told AFP news agency that crews had rescued more than 400 people.

Many people have died as a result of floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains that have hit major cities in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

According to the spokesperson of the National Fire Service in Ghana, at least 12 people were confirmed dead on Tuesday after heavy rains started yesterday.

“The number may increase because several people are still missing,” Alex King Nartey told local media.

Heavy rain flooded homes and roads across Ghana’s capital Accra on Monday, forcing many people to escape as teams worked through the night.

Greater Accra regional fire chief Rashid Kwame Nisawu told AFP that crews had rescued more than 400 people on Tuesday, pumping water into homes and helping people who were missing.

However, Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organization said on Monday that emergency calls began early in the morning when people realized that floodwaters were entering their homes.

Mariam Dongyela Millah, the deputy director of communications at the Disaster Management Authority, said: “Every place was flooded.

In Ivory Coast, it started to rain on Saturday, and the storm also caused injuries.

Although the country’s authorities did not give a death toll, a source close to the fire department and the interior minister told Reuters that the death toll was around 20.

Poor management

Ghana’s Interior Minister, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, admitted on Monday that the government’s response to heavy rains could have been better, with the main opposition New Patriotic Party criticizing the government’s actions.

“We are very sad because of the death,” he said in a television interview.

Responding to the threat of the weather, President John Mahama said in a post on X that, according to preliminary data, “about 140 millimeters of rain fell in Accra. In comparison, the highest one-day rainfall recorded last year was about 56 millimeters”.

“That part of the problem is one we cannot overcome because it is driven by climate change,” he said, adding that “human behavior” was also a problem, pledging to eradicate illegal buildings that block water.

However, the Ghana Meteorological Agency has urged the people of Accra to prepare for more rain this week.