Anafobisi (U/E), Sept 1, GNA – Ghanaians, especially those living in disaster-prone communities have been advised to be cautious of adverse weather conditions and study the changes in the weather to avert damage to human lives and property.
At separate community engagements organized by Water Aid Ghana, Water and Sanitation focused organization, Mr Johnson Ameho, a Senior Meteorologist with the Ghana Meteorological Agency observed that early warning signs of bad weather conditions often resulted in natural disasters including floods, drought among others which were destructive to human lives and property.
Mr Ameho who is also the Upper West Regional Meteorologist therefore advised Ghanaians to pay attention to the changing weather in order to identify bad weather signs to prepare properly to avoid calamities.
The sensitization programme which forms part of the Water Aid Ghana’s Securing Water Resources Approach Initiative being implemented across Water Aid African Country Programs was organized for flood prone communities to equip them with adequate knowledge on early warning signs of bad weather and actions to take to avoid damage.
The outreach programme which targeted disaster-prone communities was held at Anaforbisi, Feo and Amanga in the Bongo District, Apadabogo, Widnaba, Galaka, Sapelliga in the Bawku West District both districts in the Upper East Region and Bosoyiri, Gurimuni and Sanchiga in the Wa Municipality in the Upper West Region.
The Senior Meteorologist explained that due to human activities Ghana and other Africa countries were currently experiencing variation in the rainfall part and said people needed to know these variations and prepare to avert any damage to lives and properties.
He said the rainfall pattern in northern Ghana was usually between April and September each year and people were expected to listen to weather forecasts and experts especially during the rainy season which usually resulted in flooding.
The Senior Meteorologist who employed pictures, empowered members of the communities to be able identify bad weather and added that northern part of Ghana was often affected by extreme floods annually as result of torrential rainfall and spillage of the Bagre and Kompienga Dams in Burkina Faso leading destruction of houses, several hectares of farmlands and human lives.
He advised those living in flood prone communities to relocate to high grounds whenever it was raining and avoid living in weak buildings which could easily collapse on them.
Mr Felix Gbedevillah, a Programmes Officers at Water Aid Ghana, noted that the project combines Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services to promote water resources security and to enhance community resilience to the impact of climate change through people centered early warning signs advocacy against adverse weather.
“Increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as prolonged drought and processes of desertification, longer periods of heavy rainfall and increased risk of flooding are just some of the impacts of climate change affecting the world’s poorest populations
“The overall objective of the people-centered early warning signs sensitization is to empower individuals and communities to act in sufficient time and in proactive ways to reduce the possibility of personal injury, loss of life and damage to property and the environment when faced with likelihood of weather-related disaster,” he said.
GNA