Public cautioned on weak buildings and structures

The public, especially those staying within the southern or coastal areas, have been cautioned to renovate weak or dilapidated structures and avoid staying in or getting close to any to prevent disaster.

This is because rainfall, accompanied by strong winds or storms, is expected to hit the coastal or southern parts of the country once in a while.

Mr Michael Padi, the Senior Meteorologist of the Ghana Meteorological Agency, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday.

He said Tuesday night’s downpour, which affected only the southern part of the country and its surroundings, was the result of the northern tip of a storm over the sea, tipping over and affecting the inland areas of the country.

“It is possible for such a storm or even a stronger one to hit the coastal areas or south again because such storms are moving all over the sea and could tip over onto the land at any time,” he said.

Mr Padi said Tuesday’s rainstorm was as a result of just the northern tip of the storm on the sea adding; “if it were a tip over by the entire sea it could have covered the entire country.”

He said the rain affected the lower portions of the Volta Region, almost the entire Eastern Region, most parts of the Greater Accra Region, the Central Region and parts of the Ashanti and Western regions.

Touching on what the weather would look like for the remaining week, he said “we do not expect much rain during the rest of the week, adding, “we expect a bit of a drier atmosphere towards the weekend.”

The rain ranged in intensity from 33 millimetres (mm) in Accra to 50mm which was recorded for Ada.

The rainstorm wreaked havoc in a number of places and took off the roof of a portion of the Parliament House in Accra.

The major rainy season for the year is expected to begin in March.