A total of 3,149 people have so far been displaced due to the floods at Buipe in the Central Gonja District of the Savannah Region, the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), has said.

Mr Solomon Gayoni, Secretary General of GRCS, who announced this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after visiting some of the affected persons and communities, said they comprised 571 male adults, 603 female adults, 950 male children, and 1,025 female children.

He said some of them were staying in classrooms in the area, adding that “there are challenges of water, sanitation and hygiene issues.

Public latrines have been submerged in the floods. This means the whole water in the area has been contaminated. “So, we expect issues of epidemics in the area, malaria could rise high, we could get cholera and intestinal infections and typhoid.”

Floods hit the Buipe area about two weeks ago after the Black Volta overflowed its banks, following torrential rains upland.

Mr Gayoni said communities in the area were still inundated with flood waters, adding that information his outfit gathered from the communities indicated that this year’s floods had been the worst.

He said whilst the situation at Buipe was massive, collaboration among various relevant bodies to support the displaced persons was very poor.

He, therefore, called for a coordinated approach by stakeholders in disaster management to come to the aid of the displaced persons, urging the Ghana Health Service and other health providers to also step in.

Meanwhile, the GRCS society had provided tents for the displaced persons, which were housing about 42 households.

Mr Gayoni said the GRCS was working to get a lot more shelter kits for the people as a few of them continued to call for help for shelter.