The Ghana Meteorological Agency has admitted that it failed to alert the public ahead of Tuesday’s rainstorm which caused substantial damage to property with trees and giant billboards falling off, blocking roads and causing traffic in parts of Accra and the Eastern region.
According to the Head of Forecast at the Meteorological Agency, Joe Tetteh Portuphy in an interview with TV3 said “in our system, we have bulk radio and TV stations, Ghana Police, NADMO, National Security, Ministries of Communication and Information.
“So whoever is sending that data out must make sure that he includes all these outfits so if you do and omit one of the bulk emails then it means you’re leaving one of those people behind. And I strongly believe that was what happened…”
Some rooftops in Accra including that of parliament house were ripped off, big trees fell and blocked major roads in the capital causing traffic during the storm. Tuesday’s storm took the nation by surprise as there was no prior warning.
Meanwhile Mr. Tetteh Portuphy explains the authority has an hourly and minute monitoring system which is able to predict weather changes up to 85 percent accuracy.
He said Tuesday’s storm had a wind speed of one hundred kilometers per hour, resulting in the pulling down edifices.
On the accusations of predictions that turn out to be the opposite, Mr. Tetteh Portuphy noted that forecasting has always been accurate but there are intermittent changes that occur.
The authority has cautioned residents of Ketekrachi and its environs in the Volta Region to prepare for a heavy downpour by 7pm of Wednesday.
By Martin Asiedu-Dartey|3news.com|Ghana
Follow @NewsyMartin