Not quite 24 hours after a rainstorm devastated two communities in the Sissala East district, another has left in its wake significant damage in the Jirapa Municipality.
A mahogany tree which is said to be about or more than a hundred (100) years old within the premises of the St. Joseph’s Nursing Training School had part of its branches crashing onto shops and blocking the road in front of the offices of the St. Joseph’s Credit Union, causing damage to the affected shops whils8 hampering the movement of human and vehicular traffic.
A mango tree within the same premises also fell on the Female Medical Ward of the St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital when it got cut at its base though it didn’t cause significant damage to the building.
It was also reported that a dam under construction in Bogkpieryiri and electricity lines in Tugo all in the Jirapa Municipality were also affected by the downpour which lasted less than an hour.
In all cases no human casualties were reported.
Hon. Peter To-ang, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Jirapa municipal assembly, led a team of volunteers to clear debris on the blocked road making way for human and vehicular traffic flow whilst clearing the affected shops for damage assessment and repair work to begin.
He promised the support of the assembly in helping the affected shops by providing some of the needed materials to reconst them to normal operational status.
He is embarking on an assignment tour of the other affected areas to find out at first hand the level of destruction in order to determine the next line of action.
He said the assembly is bearing the cost of all operations because the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) is not fully operational in the district and that the assembly is taking charge of all such operations in the interim and is assuming a caretaker role.
In a related development, casual workers of the St. Joseph’s hospital who pleaded anonymity have cautioned that the Female Medical Ward, Dental Unit and the Children’s ward risk destruction in the event of another windstorm because they can’t vouch for the integrity of the ancient trees that are nearby which they say are, almost or more than a hundred years old.
They are pleading with the authorities to look for a solution to the problem to forestall greater mishaps.
