In the end of April 2021, Dorien Lugt, a research associate from HKV visited the Adentan Municipality in the Sakumono basin near Accra to discuss modelling results, flood risk maps and to view the area of Sakumono, especially the most flood-prone areas.
The Adentan municipality in the city of Accra (Ghana) suffers from annual flooding during heavy rain. Within the BMBF-funded joint project RAIN, HKV developed flood risk maps to identify the main flood prone areas in this basin. The project also develops a Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) for the Adentan area (Sakumono basin) to provide warnings based on meteorological forecasts. This will help the government to respond earlier to expected floods. Flood early warning is an effective way of risk reduction, as early actions can reduce damage and losses drastically.
Hydraulic and hydrological models were created for the flood risk assessment. Lugt (HKV) visited the Adentan municipality on Friday 30th of April to discuss the modelling results and the flood risk maps and visit the area. Due to de limited data availability, model calibration and verification of results depend largely on experience of citizens and officials. Officers of the municipality and of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), are responsible for emergency response when floods occur. Together with these officers, Lugt, visited the most flood-prone areas in the area to map historic flood events. In some areas the water reaches chest-height or hip-height several times during a flood season. This information was mapped and used for calibration of the models and improve accuracy of the maps.
Conversations with citizens in the area emphasized the importance of flood early warning in the Sakumono basin. In the next phase of the BMBF-funded joint project RAIN the Flood Early Warning System will be implemented and a Flood and Drought Early Warning System for the Nabogo will be developed as well.
