A continuous downpour of torrential rain experienced since the early hours of Sunday ,August 28,has led to the loss of lives and destruction of property in various disaster-prone communities across Freetown.
According to the weather forecast from the Sierra Leone Metrological Agency, the rains will continue in the next 24 hours. There have been various scenes of severe reported incidents within Freetown.
"The National Disaster Management Agency (NMDA) in collaboration with the National Fire Force (NFF), the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), CARITAS, the Freetown City Council (FCC), the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education (MBSSE) and the community people were able to recover six (6) dead bodies which include four (4) male adults, one (1) girl child and one (1) female adult At the Looking Town Community,' a release from NDMA states.
According the NDAM, the team also advised residents who were deemed to be residing in high-risk areas to relocate to safer areas.
The Agency further states in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, it has taken the corpses to the Connaught hospital mortuary and currently providing treatment for injured victims from other disaster affected communities.
"At the Culvert Community, the team observed that the entire community flooded displacing a large proportion of residents including children, women, the elderly, and people living with disabilities. Eleven evacuation points have been identified close to the community for relocation of the affected population," the statement reads.
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The NDMA also stated that it received a report of a fence that collapsed on a house beneath it resulting in a fatality of an 18 years old man at Mount Aureol which corps was been conveyed to the Connaught Mortuary, advising residents to relocate to safer areas.
"On Bai Bureh Road, by Bomeh Landfill, the team observed that a large tree fell across the road preventing vehicular movement and posed threat to pedestrians. The Sierra Leone Road Authority and RSLAF's engineers are working on clearing it to free up traffic".
The agency advised people living in low-lying areas to move to high grounds, those living on hilltops should stop throwing waste into drainages, and parents should ensure their children avoid walking in the rain and avoid drainages and willingly evacuate if told to do so.
"The public is also advised to turn off their electrical appliances when raining and listen to weather updates regularly from NDMA and SL Met," NDMA further noted.
