At least seven people have lost their lives after torrential rains triggered flooding and landslides across parts of Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone on Sunday.
Six people, including a child was reported to have died after a portion of mud which was hanging over their houses disembarked on adjacent homes in informal settlement in Looking Town, situated on a steep slope in the hills above the neighbourhood of Kissy.
After collective search efforts from community youths and authorities the six bodies, four male adults, one girl child and one female adult, were recovered.
A 13-year-old girl also died when a perimeter fence collapsed on a home at Hook Street, an informal settlement off Blackall Road in Kissy.
According to Alieu Mansaray, one of the neighbours of the victims, in one of the two houses destroyed, there was a husband along with his wife and child who were all found dead beneath the mud. He said, “From the other house, two adults, who were awaiting their WASSCE results were also discovered dead including a 3-year old child.”
Mansaray explained that while he was in house, he was forced to move out after hearing a heavy sound. “Upon hearing a strange sound, I then have to rush out of my house to see what was happening. To my surprise, I saw my neighbours covered with mud from the hill, but it was so sad to see how Yusuf Jusu, Augustine Unisa, Zanaib Gbatima; Kadijah Kargbo, David Jusu and Fatoma Unisa were all found dead under the mud,” he said.
The torrential rain also resulted to the destruction of property in several disaster-prone communities in Freetown.
At the Culvert Community in Kissy, it was observed that the entire community flooded, thereby displacing dozens on including children, women, the elderly, and people living with disabilities.
There was also report that an 18-year-old man died at Mount Aureol when a perimeter fence collapsed on a house.
In some communities in Lumley, homes were flooded and property worth millions of Leones were swept away by the flood.
The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr visited areas affected by the heavy rains. “My heart goes out to the families of the six people who died in the mudslide at Looking Town today,” the mayor said.
“Like many other informal settlements, there is no road to the community, it is accessed via a 15 minute walk along a narrow footpath. As I spoke with survivors and neighbours, I could clearly see a huge boulder positioned precariously above the community. A poignant reminder of the risk of disaster this community lives with daily,” Ms Aki-Sawyerr added.
“Climate change is real and extreme weather events are set to continue. We must prepare for these and protect our communities from the risks of mudslides, landslides and floods. We must stop the deforestation of our hillsides and the destruction of our mangroves (largely driven by housing construction); we must stop the construction of structures in waterways; we must stop dumping waste in gutters and waterways.”
The Mayor said, “Sadly it is predicted that there will be more extreme weather events as unfortunately globally warming is still set to continue. Let us do all that we can to be prepared for this so that we save lives and properties. In addition to planting more trees, effective land use planning and an environmentally sensitive building permit regime that is actually implemented will save lives.”
In a statement on Monday, August 29, 2022, President Julius Maada described the situation as alarming and offered his condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives.
The heavy rain impacted other areas of the city, including Kaningo and Tengbeh Town. Local media said most of the major roads in Freetown were transformed to heavy flowing rivers after several hours of rainfall, posing serious threats to life and property. Many residents have evacuated due to the threat of landslides and flooding.
This is the second spate of heavy rain in Freetown in the last 2 weeks. Areas of the city including Culvert and Kroo Bay were flooded after a heavy downpour on 17 August, 2022.
“The heavy downpours experienced this August points to the impact and consequence of global warming and climate change. But years of poor urban planning and mismanagement of the city’s resources are an enormous contributor to flooding across Freetown,” the President added.
An affected resident in Lumley, Abdul Conteh said that the flooding in the area could be attributed to the habit of dumping waste into gutters when it rains, thus preventing the flow of water.
Conteh appealed wants the government to reinstitute the national cleaning exercise every first Saturday of each month.
He holds the view that if the cleaning exercise had been in existence, water ways would have been cleared off from garbage and the chances of flooding also would have been reduced.
A Joint rescue operation was initiated by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), National Fire Force (NFF), Sierra Leone Police (SLP), Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), and Freetown City Council (FCC), among others