Many families are locked up in their homes and even those, who have ventured out, have to walk in flood waters above their waists as a result of recent torrential rains that has flooded many communities with the Pipeline Road Community being amongst one of the worst affected.
Other low-lying areas, including Wein Town, Doe Community, Slipway, Gardnersville Fendell, Mount Barclay and the SKD Sports Complex Communities are also reportedly submerged in floodwaters.
In some areas, homes are damaged, roads cut off and families displaced. Other reports say roads in the Pipeline Road Community and its surrounding areas are not pliable by vehicles, restricting the movement of people to work, school and to the market.
In the Newport Street Community, in Central Monrovia and other communities on the Bushrod Island, floodwaters have entered homes, damaging personal belongings.
Our reporter that visited some of the affected communities noticed residents dipping water their homes. “Since the rains started, we’ve been having sleepless nights because our beds or mattresses are soaked in the water,” a 53 year old woman told our reporter.
Severe flooding of this nature is not the first of its kind in Liberia. What is happening is similar to what has happened over the years across the Country during the annual rainy season.
Authorities of the Ministry of Public Works and the Environmental Agency, EPA, have blamed the severe flooding to the construction of structures on wetlands and in alleyways, repeatedly warning residents against the unwholesome act, including the dumping of garbage into drainages to avoid clogging for the free flow of water.
As we speak, like Liberia, people of the West African State of Ghana, are wrestling with floods caused by torrential rains. Homes are submerged in floodwaters, economic activities disrupted and properties, including several thousands of homes and vehicles destroyed.
Speaking to the Ghanaian and international media, President John Mahatma, said the current flooding of the Capital, Accra and other major cities was not caused by an engineering problem, but was caused by the indiscipline of the citizens in the handling of garbage.
As the flooding ceded, Ghanaians took to the streets in their respective communities and embarked on a cleanup exercise, including the cleaning of drainages.
