One person is confirmed dead and more than 50 houses in four communities in the Sanerigu District of the Northern Region have been flooded by a heavy downpour in the area on Sunday afternoon.

The woman, Azara Alhassan, believed to be in her 70s, was said to be returning from the market centre at Kunyebila when she was swept away by the flooding water. Her body has since Monday dawn been retrieved from a nearby community, TV3’s Zubaida Ismail.

Our correspondent reports that but for the timely intervention of the personnel from the Ghana Fire Service, hundreds of people, particularly traders, who were trapped by the flooding water, would have been carried away.

Four communities in the district including Sawaba, Kunyebila, and Shishegu were the hardest hit by flood which was the results of hours of torrential rainfall in parts of the Northern Region Saturday.

A total of 40 houses in Sawaba alone were destroyed, our correspondent reports.

The about four-hour rains started around 1:00pm until 5:00pm when it stopped. Many people in the affected areas who had left their homes for town were trapped.

A Fire Service rescue team hit the ground running just moments after the rains stopped to move people from where they had been trapped to safety.

The team had a tough time due to the poor roads which caused their rescue van to stuck in a mud. A reinforcement had to be called to tow the van. The rescue operation continued until 10:00pm when everyone was rescued to safety, Zubaida reported.

Our correspondent said the magnitude of the destruction is not yet established as the focus of last night was to rescue people who had been trapped but said large farms and domestic animals as well as personal belongings of people are feared destroyed.

By 3news.com|Ghana
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