Akosombo, Kpong, dam spillage – President Akufo-Addo visits flooded communities today.

Today, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will travel to the districts most affected by the flooding caused by the Akosombo Dam overflow.

Members of the government-established Inter-Ministerial Committee will accompany the President, who arrived back in the nation last night following a four-day official visit to the United States. The committee’s goal is to alleviate the suffering caused by the Akosombo Dam spill and provide aid to those in need.

The president and the committee will be able to evaluate the damage caused by the flood and its impact on the residents of the different towns thanks to the tour.

The committee is in charge of coordinating the government’s response to the spill and is led by Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Chief of Staff.

The President is anticipated to declare actions aimed at providing relief to the flood victims in the Volta Region’s North Tongu, Central Tongu, and South Tongu districts, as well as in the communities residing along the Lower Volta Basin, in addition to evaluating the direct effects of the floods.

Five trucks filled with various goods have been dispatched to the three regions that are most severely hit, according to sources at the Volta River Authority (VRA).

Bags of rice, gari, corn, beans, sugar, liters of oil, tissue, plastic buckets, bows, beds, and blankets are among the items.

The source stated that additional vehicles were being prepared to make supplies and that the interministerial committee meeting at Mepe today will reveal the next stage of the intervention.

According to the VRA, the Akosombo Dam’s maximum water level should be 276 feet.

There was 276.92 feet, or 84.405 meters, of water in the dam as of last Thursday, October 12, 2023.

The level was 272.50 feet, or 83.058 meters, prior to the spill.

According to the VRA’s website, as of yesterday, October 15, the lake level at the Akosombo Dam was 277.24 feet, or 84.503 meters, as opposed to 271.65 feet, or 82.798 meters, at the same time last year (Saturday, October 15, 2022).

NADMO guarantees

Seji Saji, the Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), pledged that the organization would keep working nonstop in tandem with VRA to provide emergency support to the affected communities and people.

The famous Sogakope Bridge and the impacted areas’ water levels did not appear to be declining as of late Friday.

Tongu North

6,421 people have already been displaced by the floodwaters in Mepe, according to Anthony Todzo, the North Tongu District Director of NADMO.

He stated that 250 individuals in adjacent Battor Vome had also lost their homes due to the deluge.

Seven basic schools in the district have also been closed due to the disaster, Mr. Todzo informed Rpid News yesterday.

“At the moment, eighty-five percent of Mepe remains underwater,” he said.

Mr. Todzo clarified that because the impacted areas were now inaccessible, it was challenging to determine the precise number of houses that the floodwaters had claimed.

In the interim, he claimed, some of the displaced had gone to live with their families in Accra, Ho, Sogakope, Akatsi, and other neighboring communities.

Effects of spills

Sections of land, farms, and settlements downstream of the Akosombo and Kpong dams have flooded as a result of the excess water spilling from the two dams, which produce around one-third of Ghana’s electricity.

On September 15, 2023, the VRA began spilling at the Kpong and Akosombo dams in the Eastern Region. This was in response to an increase in the water level in both reservoirs brought on by notable rainfall.

Communities

Nearly every community along the lower Volta Basin was impacted by the spill, which led to extensive power outages in those areas.

The GRIDCo sub-station in the Volta Region’s Fievie, Sogakope, has been forced to close due to flooding.

Effect

For example, the Comboni Center, which housed the Comboni Hospital, morgue, technical vocational institute, basic schools, and the In Vitro laboratory, has closed in Sogakope, the headquarters of the South Tongu District.

Following the closure of five basic schools in the district due to growing health and safety concerns following the floods, approximately 893 elementary school students are currently wandering.

There are 498 girls and 395 boys among the kids.

The schools that are impacted are Gonu Agbokope DA Primary School, Cuniberto RC Memorial Basic School in Sogakope, Anaosukope PCG Primary School in Sokpoe, Sogakope RC Basic School, and Gonu RC Basic School.

This was revealed by Celestine Sewoenam Adzoa Korsi-Agordo, the District Director of Education, during last Friday’s meeting in Sogakope with representatives from the VRA and NADMO.

She highlighted concerns about a potential interruption to the school calendar and stated that should the situation persist, the education officials were thinking about enrolling the kids in separate schools.

In addition to the Akosombo Dam leak, which drowned the schools, the District Director of Education reported that some of the schools’ restrooms were now clogged with excrement.

According to Mrs. Korsi-Agordo, there are major health risks because the situation is worse at schools where the restrooms have been flooded.

Families whose deceased relatives were in the morgue were forced to rush there and move the bodies because hundreds of patients were unable to reach the prestigious Comboni Hospital in Sogakope.

Due to the effects of the floods, the Sogakope Beach Resort has not been able to accommodate visitors for the past few days.

Water has not been coming out of the taps for the past three days due to the Agordomi Water Works, which treats and provides water to Sogakope.

Ahiatrogakope, Havorkope, Adadzikope, Agbokope, Sukladzi, Ashiagborkope, and Tsinuto, among other Gonu enclaves in South Tongu, have previously seen flooding brought on by the Tordzie River.

Maxwell Lukutor, a surveyor and politician in Sogakope, encouraged the government to locate a safe haven immediately and relocate the afflicted people there while supplying the victims with relief supplies, including food and clothing.

In order to allow the spilled water to flow freely into the sea, he also demanded that the estuary be dredged immediately.

“Have a technical committee from VRA determine the extent of damage so victims can be compensated,” Mr. Lukutor said.

“Now that the Akosombo Dam spillage is pushing and supplying water with speed never witnessed before, the flood level at the greater Gonu area is simply heartbreaking,” stated Yao Amekor, a fellow resident and entrepreneur.

He claimed that because cemeteries, mortuaries, bathrooms, and trash dumps had been impacted, the floods had also made environmental concerns worse.

Therefore, in order to assist the populace and prevent a serious environmental catastrophe, Mr. Amekor urged the government and its authorities to move quickly.

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