As the people of the three northern regions struggle to restore their livelihoods after last month’s devastating floods destroyed large tracts of farmlands and food crops, as well as claimed eight lives, the Meteorological Services Department has predicted more rains in the area. The Meteo Department officials expect more rains between now and October, but while they are sure the coming rains may not be as heavy as the recent destructive ones, they are unable to predict if it will cause more flooding. According to the Meteo Department, the rains would be followed almost immediately by severe droughts which could also cause more problems for the people whose farms and livestock have been largely destroyed. Various governmental bodies and other agencies have been touring the affected areas co-coordinating relief programmes. A United Nations Disaster Assessment team deployed in Ghana, which is also touring the area, says providing immediate relief and assisting in reconstruction of the northern regions affected by floods is not part of its mandate. The team says it was deployed to prepare a disaster response plan with drawing of a vulnerability map for the country. The electronic map could be assessed by international and local agencies to direct immediate relief and evacuation for future disasters. A member of the six-member team, Dr. Gyau Boakye told Joy News’ Evans Mensah that the United Nations might consider bringing in relief if the team’s assessment leads to a recommendation to that effect, however the team had been mandated long before the disaster. He also explained that the UN could marshal support for the disaster zone and victims outside of the team’s work, however it the UN decided to respond to any appeals on the grounds of the team’s work, then that could be some two or three months away.