Sierra Leone is noted for having one of the highest annual rainfalls in Africa. Over the past six years, at least four major floods have affected over 220,000 people across the country and caused loss of lives and severe economic damage.
Freetown is particularly prone to floods due to uncontrolled and uncoordinated human activities like deforestation, humans settling in slums, hill tops and along water ways, and poor waste disposal practices which block drainages and other water ways.
In August 2017, over 500 people were killed by mudslide and flash floods in Freetown and about 500 more remain unaccounted for. The annual average flood damage in the capital city has been estimated to be as high as US$2.5m a year.
On Tuesday, social media was awashed with videos of several communities, roads and valleys inundated by heavy rains in Freetown, threatening to trigger serious flooding and possible mudslide.
This came after the Freetown City Council (FCC) called on residents, especially those who are living in communities prone to flooding to remain alert as heavy rain is forecasted over the next three days.
Residents living in lowlands and flood plains along the coast of Freetown have been advised by the council to be vigilant, especially at nights, when there is an increased risk of injuries and fatalities when flooding and other environmental disasters occur at nighttime.
The FCC is calling on individuals to report a disaster or contact the Office of National Security (ONS) on 076 612775.
FCC says that, with support from several partners and the central Government, it will continue to collaborate with the military to implement the City’s 2020 Flood Mitigation programme, as they have done last month in 52 communities across Freetown.
According to the FCC, their interventions which include clearing of blocked culverts, drainages and silted gutters and waterways, helped reduce incidence of flooding in certain vulnerable communities.
However, the council says that the current practice of building along waterways and in flood plains in parts of the city leave many residents vulnerable, and that its flood mitigation activities cannot effectively address this land use planning challenge.
The FCC Flood Mitigation Programme saved Kroo Bay last year with no incident of flooding reported.
About FCC Flood Mitigation Programme
The Freetown City Council (FCC) on June 20, 2020, launched its flood mitigation plan as part of its efforts to reduce flooding in the city and lessen the attendant humanitarian, health and economic impact on residents.
The programme included raising awareness on the impacts of poor waste management on the environment; embarking on a rigorous cleaning exercise in especially disaster prone areas of Freetown; working on drains, gutters and culverts; encouraging communities to develop their own flood mitigation plans; and strengthening enforcement to prevent disposal of waste in gutters, culverts and waterways.
Commenting on the plan, Her Worship the Mayor of Freetown, Mrs. Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, said: “Flooding in Freetown is a regular problem during the rainy season. We know the causes – heavy rainfall, deforestation, buildings in streams, inadequate garbage collection and the inadequate design of the existing drainage infrastructure and poor maintenance have worsened the problem. FCC’s flood mitigation plan uses simple, cost-effective methods, that all of Freetown’s residents can follow on a daily basis, to save lives and livelihoods. With small changes to our behaviour, we can all be good neighbours and save our city from another disaster.”
By Sallieu S. Kanu
16/07/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7867