A rainstorm that hit Damongo township has injured one student of the Damongo Senior High School and displaced hundreds of students.
The storm also rendered some residents homeless.
The less than an hour rainstorm on Thursday night, March 31, 2022, ripped off Abu Juan’s House, one of the boys’ dormitories, leaving the students at the mercy of the rain and the cold weather.
According to West Gonja Municipal Chief Executive, Musah Kusubare, the student, who sustained minor injuries in the process, has been treated and discharged, and no lives have been lost.
Belongings including mattresses, books, beds and clothes among others, were all soaked in water.
One of the students who spoke to JoyNews said he and his colleagues escaped narrowly when the roof was ripped off.
“It was just the mercy of God that the roof was taken to the back of the dormitory if not, lives would have been lost last night,” Salifu Iddrisu indicated.
The affected students are currently putting up with their colleagues in other dormitories pending renovation of the affected building.
The roofs of four dormitories and electrical wiring were all ripped off, leaving behind a wrecked building.
School authorities, the West Gonja Municipal Chief Executive, officials from the Municipal Education Directorate and NADMO all visited the scene last night.
The School Authorities said it was bad timing considering the fact that they are about to receive their first year students.
“The timing is awkward and dangerous. Just imagine that from next Monday onwards, we will be receiving our first-year students and this has happened, how do we balance it? It’s a big challenge to us. So, we need an immediate Government intervention to salvage the situation and restore normal life on campus.”
Four communities, including; Yagbonkura, Canteen, Abengakura and Alhassankura were also hit. Electric poles and wires were pulled down cutting power supply to the community.
At Yagbonkura, dozens of homes were destroyed with several residents displaced. The storm pulled down trees, crushing on buildings, including schools.
The Assemblyman for the Canteen Electoral area, Anangpasah Batholomew said the area is a disaster-prone zone, therefore it was badly hit.
“We are not free because Canteen is one of the hardest-hit areas during rainstorms. Last year’s situation was an eye-sore, but this year I anticipated it.
“The mere fact that we have environmental destruction, we anticipated that some of these things would happen but then, it’s early days yet in the season for us to begin to record such disasters,” he stated.
He said many residents around the Canteen township are currently homeless including, teachers of the Canteen Junior High School.
Mariam Ishaku is one of the victims at Canteen. She told JoyNews, “this year’s rain has reminded me of what happened to me and the family last year. But I pray that the rains should come without this kind of heavy storm, because I’m still afraid of the last rainstorm.
Meanwhile, officials of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) were spotted in the affected communities, assessing the level of destruction.
Source: Ghana News
