Severe flash floods triggered by torrential rainfall have claimed at least 12 lives and displaced hundreds of residents in Ghana, with emergency responders rescuing more than 470 people trapped by rising floodwaters.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) confirmed on Wednesday that the floods submerged large parts of Accra, the capital, and nearby communities.
According to the service, the victims comprised eight men, three women and one child.
President John Dramani Mahama, who visited affected areas to assess the damage, said preliminary weather reports showed that Accra recorded about 140 millimetres of rainfall during the downpour.
He described it as the heaviest rainfall the country had experienced in years, noting that it far exceeded the peak single-day rainfall of 56 millimetres recorded in 2025.
Mahama attributed the scale of the flooding to changing climate conditions, saying the intensity of the rainfall was beyond the government’s control.
He, however, assured affected residents of immediate government support, announcing the approval of 300 million Ghanaian cedis (about 27 million U.S. dollars) for emergency relief operations.
The president also directed the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police Service to work with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to strengthen ongoing search and rescue operations.
NAN reports that flooding remains a recurring challenge in Accra during the rainy season, with experts attributing the problem to inadequate drainage infrastructure, blocked waterways and unregulated urban development.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire is also grappling with severe flooding.
Although the Ivorian government has yet to release an official casualty figure, emergency officials and sources in the country’s Interior Ministry said at least 20 people had died in the floods.
Source: (NAN)
