More than 200 houses have been submerged and at least 26 buildings destroyed following severe flooding in communities around Samreboi in the Western Region, with authorities blaming illegal mining, poor drainage and unchecked development for the disaster.
The affected communities include Aboi, Cocoase, Popolozzo, Nsuo Akyir and Roman Hill, where thousands of residents have been displaced after floodwaters swept through homes and farmlands.
Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson, in a Facebook post, said many residents had been forced to flee their homes with only the clothes they were wearing as the floods wreaked havoc across the area.
According to him, the disaster was caused by a combination of environmental degradation and human activities, particularly illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, which has severely damaged riverbanks and altered the natural flow of the Samre and Tano rivers.
“For years, excavators have clawed mercilessly at the riverbanks, stripping the land of its natural protection,” he stated, adding that the rivers had become choked with silt and had lost much of their ability to contain floodwaters.
The minister also attributed the flooding to construction on waterways and poor waste disposal practices, including the indiscriminate dumping of refuse and plastics, which have blocked drainage channels and exacerbated the impact of heavy rainfall.
“When the rains came, the water had nowhere to go but into people’s homes,” he said.
Local authorities indicated that 26 structures had collapsed completely, while more than 200 houses had been inundated, leaving thousands of residents displaced.
Joseph Nelson said temporary relief efforts were underway, while plans were being developed to address environmental degradation and prevent future occurrences.
He added that security personnel, officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and municipal authorities had been deployed to support evacuation and relief operations.
Authorities say assessments are ongoing to determine the full extent of the destruction caused by the floods.