Floods collapse 991 houses in Northern Region

Tamale, Sept 19, GNA - Four people have been reported dead and two others injured in flood-hit communities in the Northern Region following persistent rainfall and spillage from the Bagre and Kompienga dams in Burkina Faso.

In addition, 11,295 farms have been destroyed, while more than 991 houses and five schools in 214 communities have collapsed, rendering hundreds of residents homeless.

The worst affected communities are in the West Mamprusi and West Gonja districts, popularly known as the "overseas", which have been completely inundated and cut off from the rest of the region. Mr. Stephen Sumani Nayina, Northern Regional Minister disclosed this at a briefing on the flood situation in the region on Friday. He said the main routes through Nawuni and Daboya in the Northern Region and Sandema in the Upper East Region, were cut off as a result of the flooding of the Kulpawn, Sisili and the White Volta.

The Regional Minister said presently the only means by which the situation in those areas could be accurately assessed would be by air, adding: "A helicopter is urgently needed to enable us to ascertain the condition of the over 80,000 people living in that area". He said the floods had also affected Tolon/Kumbungu, Saboba, Zabzugu/Tatale, Nanumba South, Yendi and Kpandai districts along the Oti River.

Mr. Nayina said the floods had adversely affected physical infrastructure, with several roads and bridges damaged. As a result, most of the communities in those areas could only be reached by boat or canoe.

He said water sources had been affected following the contamination of over 500 hand dug wells and boreholes and expressed worry that this could trigger diarrhoea and other health related diseases in the affected areas. He said the region urgently needed relief items such as food, mats, lanterns, used clothing, detergents, and medical supplies. Mr Nayina said the long term needs of the people should be geared towards the reconstruction and relocation of some of the affected people by providing them with building materials. He appealed to the country's development partners to assist in the resettlement of the people and the rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure.