Stop replacing green grass with pavement blocks – Meteo cautions households

The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMET) has advised people to stop replacing green grass with pavement blocks in their homes.

The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMET) warned of imminent rains and that floods in Accra are due to the low resilience areas to adapt to heavy rains.

The Agency says the 2020 season was going to be mostly similar or slightly lower in terms of rainfall amount and distribution than last year’s.

Speaking in an interview on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Ekourba Gyasi, Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMET), Papa Nii Clarke, noted that in the past, Accra could get flooded only when it experienced over 80 millimetres of rains, but currently even about 30 millimetres of rains could make the city go under water.

The situation is due to anthropogenic (human) activities such as indiscriminate disposal of refuse.

According to him, most land owners in Accra have resorted to the use of pavement blocks in their houses instead of the usual green grass.

“In the past where green grasses were in almost every households, the issue of flood was not this big because the grass absorbed the water but in the absence of it in recent times where almost all houses have been tilled or have pavement blocks, the water finds its own way, which results in flooding”, he added.

He reiterated that the vulnerability of residents in Accra had increased as a result of the continuous construction of structures in water areas, inadequate and choked drainage systems among others.

He cautioned pedestrians to desist from walking under electric cables as well as roaming during heavy rainfalls.