A tragic incident in the New England community of Freetown has claimed the life of one person following relentless rainfall that battered the capital city over the past 24 hours.
According to eyewitnesses, a concrete perimeter wall collapsed onto a family home during the storm, destroying the structure and trapping those inside. Community youths rushed to the scene in an effort to rescue survivors. Sadly, one body (reportedly a young girl) was recovered from the debris.
Freetown has been inundated by an intense and continuous downpour, with rain pouring vigorously from every corner of the city. The resulting floods have overwhelmed drainages, brought traffic to a near standstill, and wreaked havoc across many communities, especially in slum areas.
There is growing concern that environmental mismanagement is worsening the impact of such natural events. Blocked gutters, poorly maintained drainage systems, unregulated construction in waterways, and the widespread felling of trees have all contributed to increased vulnerability.
Authorities are continuing search and recovery efforts in affected areas.
I do not know what is happening to our country, but this is nature and we must be ready for it. Every year we shout about the damages caused by the rains but during the dries we never make the efforts to correct the problems causing the disasters. Normally there should be a routine maintenance program (brushing, drainage and culvert cleaning) during the first and second quarter of the year. If that is not done and the residents continuously dump garbage inside the drains and waterways, then by the geographic nature of fhe city, it is bound to be under siege during this period. Added to this there are programs to restore all the misaligned waterways done by residents compiled for the whole country, phased for ease of implementation. Why don’t we pursue those programs with the SLRA?
It pains me so much 😪 when people suffer from the rains and we make propaganda stories about its damages caused to residents resulting in death of innocent souls, when there are remedies mapped out to prevent them occurring. Kindly engage the SLRA to implement all the plans for the city of Freetown to prevent flooding. The interest of the country is bigger than those of the individuals blocking those natural streams and drains for their likelihood and other selfish reasons. It’s time for the Government of Sierra Leone to act now and launch ” Operations restore our natural streams now”. This includes all those using the abutment and piers of bridges as support to build makeshift structures under the bridges. Papa government please do something now. Nobody should be above the law.