A downpour that hit the Berekum Municipality in the Bono Region in the early hours of Tuesday caused extensive damage to properties and personal belongings, running into thousands of Ghana cedis. 

The worst affected communities included Kyiribaa, Brenyekwa and the Berekum Zongo, with floodwater entering homes, rendering many people homeless. 

No casualty was however recorded. 

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Berekum, the Assembly Member for the Kyiribaa Electoral Area, Madam Florence Adusah, expressed concern about the poor drainage system in parts of the Municipality. 

She noted that the flooding that occurred was partly due to choked gutters and the erection of structures and buildings in waterways. 

Madam Adusah advised the members of the communities to desist from littering and dumping plastic materials into gutters and drains and called on the Assembly to strictly enforce regulations on building and erecting structures in the communities. 

At the Berekum Zongo, Madam Mary Owusuaa, one of the flood-affected persons, told the GNA that floodwaters entered her house around 0400 hours, and that about 13 houses were also inundated. 

She said the flood waters destroyed television sets, mattresses, sound systems, mobile phones, and furniture. 

Madam Owusuaa appealed to the Municipal Assembly and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to come to the aid of the affected persons, saying many of them were presently perching with relations and friends. 

Another affected person, Madam Juliana Adu Akrasi, noted that the ongoing construction of the 24-hour market project at Berekum, close to her house, had affected the drainage system in the area. 

She noted that “The soil excavated from the construction site has been heaped into a major drainage channel, blocking waterways and impeding the free flow of water,” she stated.

Many of the affected persons appealed to the NADMO, the Municipal Assembly, and benevolent organizations to come to their aid, urging the Assembly to improve the poor drainage system in parts of the municipality as well.