Tackle floods at Ho-Barracks New Town

Residents of the vibrant Ho-Barracks New Town are now seeking refuge with friends and relatives in other parts of the municipality following heavy rains that have flooded many homes and left roads and footpaths waterlogged for weeks.

Since early last month, persistent flooding has made life unbearable in the area, rendering roads impassable. Taxi drivers now avoid the neighbourhood for fear of getting stuck in deep water or mud.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic on Sunday, June 8, a resident, Mathias Danku, described the area as “desolate,” with mud and water inundating homes and disrupting daily life.

He attributed the problem to poor drainage systems, stating that many gutters in the community are too shallow to handle runoff during heavy rains.

“This has affected the livelihood of the people here, as the situation has brought everything to a standstill,” Mr Danku lamented.

He appealed to the Ho Municipal Assembly to act swiftly to restore normalcy in the area.

When contacted, the Volta Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Paschal Agbagba, stressed the need to redesign the drainage system to facilitate faster rainwater runoff.

According to him, more than 50 houses have been affected by the flooding so far.

Road reshaping underway

In response, the Ho Municipal Urban Roads Engineer, Gershon Bannerman, confirmed that work has begun on reshaping the Barracks–Kpenoe–Takla road, which includes the Ho-Barracks New Town area.

He explained that the roads and drains had been damaged recently due to excessive vehicle pressure and lack of adequate drainage infrastructure.

Mr Bannerman assured residents that the reshaping work would help improve the condition of roads and reduce the impact of flooding in the coming weeks.